Abstract:

Objectives: The effect of caring for a family member who suffers from a chronic mental disorder is becoming an increasing public health concern. When the caregiver is a spouse, the marital relationships of the couples may also be affected. We aimed to determine the impactof caregiver burden on marital adjustment in spouses of patients with mental disorders. Methods: This study was carried out between April 15 and July 15, 2019 with the participation of the spouses of psychiatric patients at the Kahramanmaras Necip Fazıl City Hospital and Kahramanmaraş Sütçü İmam University. The diagnoses of the patients were depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety disorder, substance-alcohol abuse disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and somatic symptom disorder. A total of 273 volunteering patient spouses were included in the sample group. Marital Adjustment Test (MAT) and Burden Inventory (BI) were used for assessment. Results: Caregiver burden significantly predicted marital adjustment (β = -0.651, t = -14.052, p <.001). The results indicated that the caregiver burden was greater for female caregivers compared with those of male caregivers and that they had worse marital adjustment. The caregiver burden of the spouses of male patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, substance-alcohol addiction and bipolar disorder were greater than those of the spouses of patients diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder, obsessive compulsive disorder and that their marital adjustments are worse. The caregiver burden of the spouses of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and obsessive-compulsive disorder were greater than those of the spouses of patients diagnosed with depression, anxiety disorder, somatic symptom disorder and that their marital adjustments are worse. Conclusion: It is suggested to determine the caregiver burden for the spouses of these patients, especially for female caregivers, in addition to planning and implementing interventions for improving their marital adjustment.

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