Schiffman Jason, Reeves Gloria M, Kline Emily, Medoff Deborah R, Lucksted Alicia, Hoagwood Kimberly, Fang Li Juan, Dixon Lisa B
Department of Psychology, University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Maryland, USA.
Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Int J Ment Health. 2015;44(4):303-315. doi: 10.1080/00207411.2015.1076293. Epub 2015 Sep 15.
Family members of consumers with mental illness often play important roles in initiating and supporting treatment. Self-help programs such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Family-to-Family Education Program (FTF) have been shown to provide a variety of benefits for family members. Despite recognizing the benefits of FTF, little is known about who may benefit most, and in what ways they might benefit. One group of interest is family members of younger consumers, a group shown to report more negative caregiving experiences and more depression and anxiety than caregivers of older consumers. The current study assesses whether relatives of youth (ages 8-18) differ in their response to FTF as opposed to relatives of adults (19 years and older). Results suggest that all members benefit from FTF. Family members of youth in FTF, however, reported gains more pronounced on their depressive symptoms, and negative perceptions and experiences, relative to family members of adults. The importance of peer support programs is discussed, as well as the specific usefulness of these programs to effectively address concerns of relatives of youth with serious mental health concerns.
患有精神疾病的消费者的家庭成员在启动和支持治疗方面往往发挥着重要作用。诸如美国国家精神疾病联盟（NAMI）的家庭对家庭健康教育项目（FTF）等自助项目已被证明能为家庭成员带来各种益处。尽管认识到FTF的益处，但对于谁可能受益最大以及他们可能以何种方式受益却知之甚少。一个受关注的群体是年轻消费者的家庭成员，与年长消费者的照顾者相比，这一群体报告的负面照顾经历、抑郁和焦虑情绪更多。当前的研究评估了青少年（8至18岁）的亲属与成年人（19岁及以上）的亲属对FTF的反应是否存在差异。结果表明，所有成员都从FTF中受益。然而，与成年家庭成员相比，参与FTF的青少年家庭成员在抑郁症状、负面认知和经历方面的改善更为显著。文中讨论了同伴支持项目的重要性，以及这些项目在有效解决患有严重心理健康问题的青少年亲属的担忧方面的具体作用。
