Predicting Family Health in Families of Young Adults with Severe Mental Illness

Abstract

A greater understanding of the factors that predict family health in the families of young adults with severe and persistent mental illness is essential given the complex and challenging nature of the caregiving role into which these families have been drawn. Based upon the perspective of 126 family caregivers from National Alliance for the Mentally Ill chapters across the United States, this study sought to identify the best predictors of family health from among several client, family, and professional factors. The results indicated that family coping, family stressors, and professional communication were most predictive of the outcome variable of family health.