Associative stigma in family members of psychotic patients in Flanders: An exploratory study

Table 1 Socio-demographic data of patient and respondent, and schematic representation of the patient’s case history n = 150 (%)

Diagnosis
Schizophrenia/schizo-affective disorder	129 (86.0)/21 (14.0)
Treatment
Inpatient/outpatient	81 (54.0)/69 (46.0)
Gender of patient
Male/female	103 (68.7)/47 (31.3)
Average age of patient (SD)	33 yr (8.7 yr)
Gender of respondent
Male/female	46 (30.7)/104 (69.3)
Relationship respondent/patient
Parent/partner	118 (78.7)/32 (21.3)
Average age of respondent (SD)	56 yr (11.9 yr)
Education of respondent
A-Level, FE or University/primary or GCSE (O-Level)	74 (49.3)/76 (50.7)
Total household income of respondent
< €20K per annum/ > €20K per annum	122 (81.4)/28 (18.6)
Number of contact hours respondent/patient (SD)	5.4 h (1.8 h)
Duration of illness in years (SD)	9.1 yr (6.4 yr)
Number of times patient was taken into care (SD)	3.8 (3.2)
Psychopharmacological treatment
With/without antipsychotic drugs	148 (98.6)/2 (1.4)
Behaviour
Disorganised/not disorganised	132 (88.0)/18 (12.0)
Negative/not negative	44 (29.3)/106 (70.7)
Patient’s place of residence
At home/in institution	117 (78.0)/33 (22.0)

Table 2 Complete results of stigmatization questionnaire, ordered by item n = 150 (%)

	Never	Sometimes	Regularly	Often
Concerned about the neighbours	121 (80.7)	20 (13.3)	5 (3.3)	4 (2.7)
Concerned about people discovering what is going on	106 (70.7)	33 (22.0)	4 (2.6)	7 (4.7)
Tendency to conceal	89 (59.3)	38 (25.3)	11 (7.3)	12 (8.0)
Explanation about the situation	71 (47.3)	60 (40.0)	13 (8.7)	6 (4.0)
Secrecy	95 (63.3)	32 (21.3)	6 (4.0)	17 (11.3)
Concerned about being avoided or ignored	136 (90.7)	11 (7.3)	1 (0.7)	2 (1.3)
Explanation of the illness	106 (70.7)	26 (17.3)	11 (7.3)	7 (4.7)
Concerned about being accused	129 (86.0)	13 (8.7)	5 (3.3)	3 (2.0)
Concerned about a hesitation to marry	122 (81.3)	15 (10.0)	7 (4.7)	6 (4.0)
Concerned about leaving the house	120 (80.0)	24 (16.0)	3 (2.0)	3 (2.0)
Shame	129 (86.0)	19 (12.7)	0 (0.0)	2 (1.3)
Contact with other families	103 (68.7)	34 (22.7)	6 (4.0)	7 (4.6)
Feeling depressed or sad	55 (36.7)	44 (29.3)	25 (16.7)	26 (17.3)
Guilt	118 (78.7)	22 (14.7)	7 (4.6)	3 (2.0)

Table 3 Differences in subjective stigmatization experience taking into account patient- and respondent-specific variables with the relevant P-value

Patient- and respondent-specific variables	Stigmatization-score (± SD)	P-value
Relation
Parent/partner	6.4 (± 0.5)/4.9 (± 1.1)	0.030
Evolution of relation
Worse/not worse	8.6 (± 1.1)/5.3 (± 0.5)	0.003
Disruptive
Yes/no	8.1 (± 1.1)/5.7 (± 0.5)	0.020
Nature of patient
Inpatient/outpatient	6.8 (± 0.6)/5.3 (± 0.7)	0.043
Disruption to family members
Yes/no	9.6 (± 1.5)/5.5 (± 0.5)	0.004
Patient’s residence
Institution/at home	8.9 (± 1.1)/5.3 (± 0.5)	0.001
Attribution to heredity
Yes/no	7.4 (± 0.7)/4.8 (± 0.5)	0.006
Attribution to character
Yes/no	7.4 (± 0.7)/4.8 (± 0.5)	0.008
Attribution to biological brain problem
Yes/no	7.1 (± 0.8)/5.6 (± 0.6)	0.050
Contact with psychotherapist
Yes/no	6.8 (± 0.6)/4.5 (± 0.5)	0.060

Table 4 Predictors of stigma experienced by family members of psychotic patients (n = 89)

	β	t	P-value
Constant		0.999	0.321
Gender of patient	0.072	0.648	0.519
Relation with patient	0.025	0.194	0.847
Education of family member	-0.013	-0.11	0.913
Age of patient	-0.238	-1.595	0.115
Number of years of illness	0.109	0.714	0.477
Number of hospital admissions	-0.033	-0.26	0.796
Positive psychotic symptom: hallucinations	0.204	1.827	0.072
Positive psychotic symptom: paranoia	0.134	1.283	0.203
Burden by housemates	0.223	2.074	0.041
Family income	0.062	0.526	0.601
Spoken to therapist	0.173	1.578	0.119
Biological background of illness: inheritability	0.19	1.716	0.09
Biological background of illness: bad biological functioning	0.005	0.044	0.965

Footnote: R² = 0.25.