Caring Situation and Provision of Web-based Support for Young Persons Who Support Family Members or Close Friends with Mental Illness
Year: 2013
Type: dissertation
Abstract: Changes in psychiatric health care and increased reliance on outpatient care have resulted in\nthe transfer of responsibility for care from psychiatric services to social networks. Young\nperson’s therefore often take responsibility during their own sensitive phase of emerging\nadulthood for the care of a loved one who suffers from mental illness.\nThe overall aim of this study was to learn how young persons who provide care and support to\na person with mental illness handle their everyday lives. This study also aimed to evaluate\nweb-based versus folder support for these young informal carers. The papers in this thesis use\nqualitative descriptive (I), comparative (II), mixed methods (III), and experimental (IV)\ndesign approaches. Participants were recruited twice: first, 12 participants were recruited for\nthe qualitative papers and interviewed; then 241 participants were included in the\ninterventions and sent self-administered questionnaires by email or the regular postal service\nat the start of the intervention (T1), after 4 months (T2), and after 8 months (T3) during 2010\nand 2011. Young informal carers (YIC) managed their everyday lives and unexpected\nstressors from their perceived responsibility for the supported person by relying on their own\nabilities and their social networks and by maintaining a constant state of readiness in case\nsomething should happen to the supported person. Supporting a person in the family can have\nhigher positive subjective value than supporting a friend. Although friends perceived that they\nreceived more support. They often did not share their situation with others and felt that others\ndid not understand what they were going through; even when YIC did share their burden with\ntheir social networks, they felt either that they were ignored or that others did not know how\nto act or what to say. YIC often experienced a lack of appropriate, available, and serious\nprofessional support. They thought that support from professionals might improve their caring\nsituation and that it might ease their burden if the person with mental illness had more\nprofessional care and support.\nBaseline stress levels were high in both intervention groups (web-based support versus\ninformational folder), but decreased in the folder group. The folder group showed more\nimprovement in their caring situation than the web group, and improvements in general selfefficacy,\nwell-being, and quality of life. The web group also showed improved well-being.\nNon-significant differences between the groups indicate that each intervention could be useful\ndepending upon the individual’s preference. This highlights the importance of adopting a\nperson-centred approach to offer young persons the appropriate support.
Author: Lilas Ali
Institution: University of Gothenburg
Language: English
Subfield: Clinical Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W108365036