Parents of mentally ill adult children living at home: rewards of caregiving.

In the context of parents caring at home for an adult child with mental illness, this study explored the positive aspects and rewards of caregiving. Specifically, it measured the extent to which parents perceive their ill child as providing assistance and support--practical and emotional--and perceive their own caregiving as emotionally and mentally rewarding. One parent from each of 93 households completed a self-administered questionnaire. All the parents reported receiving help and support from their child, but perceived the satisfaction gained from fulfilling their parental duties and from learning about themselves as far more important. Their assessment of this satisfaction was entirely unaffected by the subjective and objective burdens on them and the severity of the child's illness.