A Stress and Coping Model of Adjustment to Caring for an Adult with Mental Illness

This study investigated the utility of a stress and coping framework for identifying factors associated with adjustment to
informal caregiving to adults with mental illness. Relations between stress and coping predictors and negative (distress)
and positive (positive affect, life satisfaction, benefit finding, health) carer adjustment outcomes were examined. A total
of 114 caregivers completed questionnaires. Predictors included relevant background variables (carer and care recipient characteristics
and caregiving context), coping resources (optimism, social support, carer-care recipient relationship quality), appraisal
(threat, control, challenge) and coping strategies (problem-focused, avoidance, acceptance, meaning-focused). Results indicated
that after controlling for relevant background variables (burden, caregiving frequency, care recipient symptom unpredictability),
better caregiver adjustment was related to higher social support and optimism, better quality of carer-care recipient relationship,
lower threat and higher challenge appraisals, and less reliance on avoidance coping, as hypothesised. Coping resources emerged
as the most consistent predictor of adjustment. Findings support the utility of stress and coping theory in identifying risk
and protective factors associated with adaptation to caring for an adult with mental illness.