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Living with severe anxiety disorders: relatives' distress and reactions to patient behaviours
Author(s) -
Renshaw Keith D.,
Chambless Dianne L.,
Rodebaugh Thomas L.,
Steketee Gail
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
clinical psychology and psychotherapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.315
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1099-0879
pISSN - 1063-3995
DOI - 10.1002/1099-0879(200007)7:3<190::aid-cpp235>3.0.co;2-6
Subject(s) - hostility , anxiety , psychology , distress , clinical psychology , psychiatry , psychological distress , socioeconomic status , medicine , population , environmental health
Psychological distress and complaints of relatives living with agoraphobic and obsessive compulsive patients were examined. Nineteen per cent of relatives reported clinical levels of psychological distress. Relatives' complaints about patients were focused on four primary areas of patient behaviour: chronic sick role/family burden, anxiety symptoms, interpersonal problems, and problems in their relationship with the patient. The focus of complaints and relatives' self‐ report of psychological distress were not correlated with each other or with socioeconomic status, various measures of patients' initial symptom severity, or relatives' criticism or hostility as measured by the Camberwell Family Interview (CFI). However, relatives' distress was significantly correlated with a measure of patients' initial overall functioning and marginally correlated with relatives' emotional over‐involvement as measured by the CFI. Copyright © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.