Adaptive Coping Among Family Members of Persons With Serious Mental Illness

scribefactors associatedwith adap-tive coping by family members with a psychiatrically disabled relative. Methods: A total of 225 f amily members ofpersons with se-rious mental illness were inter-viewed. Hierarchical regression analysis using five variables that may have contributed to adaptive coping was conducted. The five fac-tors were demographic characteris-tics ofthefamily member, severity of the relative’s illness, the family member’s subjective burden and grief social support, and personal coping resources (self-efficacy and mastery). Results: More extensive adaptive coping was associated with increased social support as measured by the density ofthe so-cial network, the extent of affirm-ing social support, and participa-tion in a support group for fami-lies. Better coping was also associ-ated with a greater sense of self-ef-ficacy in dealing with the relative’s mental illness. Adaptive coping was not associated with the sever-ity oftbe relative’s illness. Conclu-signs: The findings suggest that mental health professionals should encourage family members to use the support provided by commu-nity-based support groups and to f orm such groups:fnone are avail-able. (Psychiatric Services 46