Abstract
When working with families of individuals with mental illness, therapists attend to multiple perspectives of family members. The current study quantitatively examines several perspectives of siblings within various role positions related to mental illness and suicidal ideation. The participating sample draws from: individuals with mental illness, siblings of those with mental illness, and individuals from families where both siblings have diagnosed mental illness. Across these positions, we compared experienced stress, distress, and burden and examined the function of the sibling bond. The study also explores patterns in overall functioning across these sibling positions. Our findings highlight the burden of siblings of those with mental illness, the psychological distress of those with MI, and the stressful environment of those siblings who both report mental illness. The study findings clarify commonalities within and across siblings, according to whether or not they report mental illness and/or suicidal ideation. Our findings suggest that families have both individual and shared narratives associated with the person reporting mental illness. The results of this study are used to further inform therapeutic practice with families of individuals with mental illness.
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This research was funded by the Niles Research Grant from the Virginia Tech College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences.
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Shivers, C., Russon, J., Benson, M.J. et al. Siblings’ Role Positions and Perceptions of Mental Illness. Contemp Fam Ther 45, 360–370 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-022-09637-6
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10591-022-09637-6