Coping Strategies and Family Functioning as Predictors of Stress among Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients

摘要

The present study was conducted to examine primarily objective that the family functioning and Coping strategies act as the predictors of stress in caregivers. The sample of the study comprised of 150 respondents (25% males and 75% females) purposively selected from five different hospital settings located in Gujrat and its nearby cities. Demographic questionnaire along with Urdu versions of Self-Report Family Inventory (Beavers, Hampson & Hulgus, 1990) [1], Coping Strategies Questionnaire (Kausar & Munir, 2004) [10], and Perceived stress scale (Mariam et al., 2011) [14] were used to collect the data. Results revealed that among demographic variables gender showed statistically significant difference with respect to family functioning, coping strategies, and stress, whereas other demographic variables, including age, family system and relation to patient showed statistically significant differences with respect to coping strategies only. Further, the findings indicated a significant correlation between family functioning and stress. Furthermore, the family functioning accounted for 54 % of the variance for stress and was significant predictor, while coping strategies did not predict stress among caregivers. Limitations and Recommendations of the research are discussed.