Coping with information style and family burden: Possible roles of self-stigma and hope among parents of children in a psychiatric inpatient unit.

OBJECTIVE: Parents of children who are hospitalized in inpatient psychiatric units must cope with significant challenges. One of these challenges relates to the way in which they cope with illness-related information. The current study examined the relationship between two such coping styles - monitoring and blunting - and family burden among parents of children in a psychiatric inpatient unit. Moreover, the possible moderating roles played by hope and self-stigma in these associations were also examined.

METHODS: Questionnaires regarding coping with information style, self-stigma, hope and family burden were administered to 70 parents.

RESULTS: A main positive effect of hope and a main negative effect of self-stigma were uncovered. An interaction between self-stigma and monitoring was also revealed, suggesting that for parents with high self-stigma, compared to those with low self-stigma, more monitoring was related to more burden.

CONCLUSIONS: Tailoring family interventions according to coping style and self-stigma is highly recommended as a mean to reduce the family burden of parents whose child is hospitalized in a psychiatric inpatient unit.