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The Impact of Mental Illness on the Family

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Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health

Part of the book series: Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research ((HSSR))

Abstract

Social scientists have become increasingly interested in the ways in which the mental disorder of one family member has emotional and behavioral consequences for other family members. In recent years, substantial advances have been made in understanding these processes. To some considerable extent, these advances have been the result of conceptualizing the mental illness of a family member as a source of social stress and then tracing its consequences for others’ psychological well-being. In thinking about mental illness as a stressor within the family, there are two bodies of literature that have traced the consequences of individuals’ mental disorders for their families: (1) the intergenerational transmission of mental illness and (2) the burden of stress experienced by family members who provide care to individuals with severe mental illness. We review the literature on each of these areas and identify areas where the sociology of mental health has had a major impact and areas where there appear to be important opportunities to develop a more distinctly sociological perspective.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Sociology, Paediatrics, Epidemiology and Biostatistics, The University of Western Ontario, 5327 Social Science Centre, London, ON, N6A 5C2, Canada

    William R. Avison

  2. Children’s Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada

    William R. Avison

  3. Lawson Health Research Institute, London, ON, Canada

    William R. Avison

  4. Department of Sociology, The University of Western Ontario, 5306 Social Science Centre, London, ON, N6A 5C2, Canada

    Jinette Comeau

Authors
  1. William R. Avison
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  2. Jinette Comeau
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Correspondence to William R. Avison .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Community Health Sciences Fielding School of Public Health, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Carol S. Aneshensel

  2. Department of Sociomedical Sciences Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Jo C. Phelan

  3. Department of Sociology, University of Calgary, Calgary, AB, Canada

    Alex Bierman

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Avison, W.R., Comeau, J. (2013). The Impact of Mental Illness on the Family. In: Aneshensel, C.S., Phelan, J.C., Bierman, A. (eds) Handbook of the Sociology of Mental Health. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4276-5_26

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