Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T00:32:29.943Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Measuring the burden of psychiatric illness on the family: an evaluation of some rating scales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2009

Stephen Platt*
Affiliation:
Medical Research Council Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, Edinburgh
*
1Address for correspondence: Dr S. D. Platt, MRC Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh EH10 5HF.

Synopsis

The gradual shift towards non-institutional treatment for severe and chronic psychiatric illnesses has been accompanied by a recognition of potentially harmful effects (‘burden’) upon the patient's caregivers. This paper aims to provide a framework for the development of further research into the burden of ‘community care’ by offering a clear definition of the burden concept, an exposition of the criteria for evaluating rating scales to measure the concept, a review of major rating scales of burden, and some suggestions for improvements in methodology which are urgently required.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1985

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Becker, W. C. (1960). The relationship of factors in parental ratings of self and each other to the behavior of kindergarten children as rated by mothers, fathers and teachers. Journal of Consulting Psychology 24, 507527.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. (1967). The family of the schizophrenic patient. In Recent Developments in Schizophrenia (ed. Coppen, A. J. and Walk, A.), pp. 4359. Royal Medico-Psychological Association: London.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Rutter, M. (1966). The measurement of family activities and relationships: a methodological study. Human Relations 19, 241263.Google Scholar
Copas, J. B., Fryer, M. & Robin, A. (1974). Treatment Settings in Psychiatry: A Comparative Study. Henry Kimpton: London.Google Scholar
Creer, C. & Wing, J. K. (1974). Schizophrenia at Home. Institute of Psychiatry: London.Google Scholar
Creer, C., Sturt, E. & Wykes, T. (1982). The role of relatives. In Long-term Community Care: Experience in a London Borough (ed. Wing, J. K.), pp. 2939. Psychological Medicine Monograph Supplement 2. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.Google Scholar
Doll, W. (1976). Family coping with the mentally ill: an unanticipated problem of de-institutionalisation. Hospital and Community Psychiatry 27, 183185.Google Scholar
Fenton, F. R., Tessier, L. & Struening, E. L. (1979). A comparative trial of home and hospital psychiatric care. One-year follow-up. Archives of General Psychiatry 36, 10731079.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gibbons, J. S., Horn, S. H., Powell, J. M. & Gibbons, J. L. (1984). Schizophrenic patients and their families: a survey in a psychiatric service based on a DGH unit. British Journal of Psychiatry 144, 7077.Google Scholar
Goldberg, D. & Huxley, P. (1980). Mental Illness in the Community. Tavistock: London.Google Scholar
Grad, J. (1964). Psychiatric social workers and research. British Journal of Psychiatric Social Work 8, 147152.Google Scholar
Grad, J. & Sainsbury, P. (1962). Evaluation of treatment and services. In The Burden on the Community. The Epidemiology of Mental Illness. A Symposium, pp. 69116. Nuffield Provincial Hospitals Trust: London.Google Scholar
Grad, J. & Sainsbury, P. (1963). Mental illness and the family. Lancet i, 544547.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grad, J. & Sainsbury, P. (1966). Evaluating the community psychiatric service in Chichester: results. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 44, 246278.Google Scholar
Grad, J. & Sainsbury, P. (1968). The effects that patients have on their families in a community care and a control psychiatric service – a two-year follow-up. British Journal of Psychiatry 114, 265278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hatfield, A. (1978). Psychological costs of schizophrenia to the family. Social Work 23, 355359.Google ScholarPubMed
Herz, M. I., Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. L. (1976). Brief versus standard hospitalisation: the families. American Journal of Psychiatry 133, 795801.Google ScholarPubMed
Hirsch, S. R., Platt, S. D., Knights, A. & Weyman, A. (1979). Shortening hospital stay for psychiatric care: effect on patients and their families. British Medical Journal i, 442446.Google Scholar
Hoenig, J. (1968). The de-segregation of the psychiatric patient. Proceedings of the Royal Society of Medicine 61, 115120.Google Scholar
Hoenig, J. & Hamilton, M. W. (1966). The schizophrenic patient in the community and his effect on the household. International Journal of Social Psychiatry 12, 165176.Google Scholar
Hoenig, J. & Hamilton, M. W. (1967). The burden on the household in an extramural psychiatric service. In New Aspects of the Mental Health Services (ed. Freeman, H. and Farndale, J.), pp. 612635. Pergamon: London.Google Scholar
Hoenig, J. & Hamilton, M. W. (1969). The De-Segregation of the Mentally III. Routledge & Kegan Paul: London.Google Scholar
Hughes, B. J. (1978). Social and clinical factors associated with burden in the families of schizophrenic patients. Unpublished MSc Thesis; Manchester University.Google Scholar
Kennedy, P. & Hird, F. (1980). Description and evaluation of a short-stay admission ward. British Journal of Psychiatry 136, 205215.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kline, P. (1983). Review of SBAS. British Journal of Psychiatry 143, 534.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knights, A., Hirsch, S. R. & Platt, S. D. (1980). Clinical change as a function of brief admission to hospital in a controlled study using the Present State Examination. British Journal of Psychiatry 137, 170180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kreisman, D. & Joy, V. (1974). Family responses to the mental illness of a relative: a review of the literature. Schizophrenia Bulletin 1, 3457.Google Scholar
Pai, S. & Kapur, R. L. (1981). The burden on the family of a psychiatric patient: development of an interview schedule. British Journal of Psychiatry 138, 332335.Google Scholar
Pai, S. & Kapur, R. L. (1982). Impact of treatment intervention on the relationship between dimensions of clinical psychopathology, social dysfunction and burden on the family. Psychological Medicine 12, 651658.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Platt, S. (1980). On establishing the validity of ‘objective’ data: can we rely on cross-interview agreement? Psychological Medicine 10, 573581.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Platt, S. (1981). Social adjustment as a criterion of treatment success: just what are we measuring? Psychiatry 44, 95112.Google Scholar
Platt, S., & Hirsch, S. (1981). The effects of brief hospitalisation upon the psychiatric patient's household. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 64, 199216.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Platt, S., Weyman, A. & Hirsch, S. (1978). Social Behaviour Assessment Schedule (SBAS) (2nd edn, revised). Department of Psychiatry, Charing Cross Hospital: London.Google Scholar
Platt, S., Weyman, A., Hirsch, S. & Hewett, S. (1980). The Social Behaviour Assessment Schedule (SBAS): rationale, contents, scoring and reliability of a new interview schedule. Social Psychiatry 15, 4355.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Platt, S., Weyman, A. & Hirsch, S. (1983). Social Behaviour Assessment Schedule (SBAS) (3rd edn). NFER-Nelson: Windsor, Berks.Google Scholar
Rutter, M. & Brown, G. W. (1966). The reliability and validity of measures of family life and relationships in families containing a psychiatric patient. Social Psychiatry 1, 3853.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sainsbury, P. (1975). Evaluation of community mental health programs. In Handbook of Evaluation Research Vol. 2 (ed. Gutentag, M. and Struening, E. L.), pp. 125159. Sage: Beverly Hills.Google Scholar
Sainsbury, P. & Grad, J. (1966). Evaluating the community psychiatrie service in Chichester. Aims and methods of research. Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly 44, 231242.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Smith, C. M. (1969). Measuring some effects of mental illness on the home. Canadian Psychiatric Association Journal 14, 97104.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Gibbon, M. & Endicott, J. (1971). Family Evaluation Form. Biometrics Research, New York State Department of Mental Hygiene: New York.Google Scholar
Stevens, B. C. (1973). Role of fluphenazine decanoate in lessening the burden of chronic schizophrenics in the community. Psychological Medicine 3, 141158.Google Scholar
Test, M. A. & Stein, L. I. (1980). Alternative to mental hospital treatment. III. Social cost. Archives of General Psychiatry 37, 409412.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Weissman, M. M. (1975). The assessment of social adjustment. Archives of General Psychiatry 32, 357365.Google Scholar
Weissman, M. M., Sholomskas, D. & John, K. (1981). The assessment of social adjustment. An update. Archives of General Psychiatry 38, 12501258.Google Scholar
Winer, B. J. (1970). Statistical Principles in Experimental Design. McGraw-Hill: London.Google Scholar