Mastery, burden, and areas of concern among family caregivers of mentally ill persons

In an era of limited resources for mental health care, family interventions need to target areas where they are responsive to families' expressed needs. Although family burden has been documented, less is known about the areas of concern that families feel they need direct assistance with, to be effective caregivers. Telephone interviews were conducted with 30 family members of mentally ill relatives. Burden, sense of mastery, and contexts of caregiving were assessed. Open-ended questions elicited further understandings of caregiving concerns. The most frequently identified burden was "worry about the future." The greatest concern was "dealing with sadness and grief." Recommendations for assessing family concerns are presented.