The 130th Annual Meeting of APHA

Abstract #45303

Sandra Magana, PhD and Jan Steven Greenberg, PhD. School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, 1350 University Ave., Madison, WI 53706, 608-263-0270, magana@waisman.wisc.edu

This paper aims to describe the experiences of mid-life and aging Black mothers who have an adult child with schizophrenia in comparison to an age and SES matched random sample of Black women drawn from a national probability study. While there have been a few studies of Black caregivers coping with a family member with mental illness, most have focused on comparisons between Black and White caregivers. The focus of our study is on within group comparisons in order to adequately address the research question, "does caring for an adult child with schizophrenia challenge the health and well-being of Black women?" Thirty-two Black mothers 50 and over were interviewed in their homes about their experiences in caring for their adult son or daughter with schizophrenia. An age and SES matched comparison sample of 32 Black women was drawn from The National Survey of Families and Households (Sweet & Bumpass, 1996). The two studies had in common measures of depressive symptoms, perceived health status, self esteem and psychological well-being. Seventy percent (70%) of the adult children with schizophrenia live at home with their mothers. Many of the adult children have multiple life problems in addition to schizophrenia such as mental retardation, poor health, problems with the law and alcohol or drug problems. Preliminary analyses indicate that the mothers of adults with schizophrenia had similar levels of depression but significantly poorer physical health. Implications for interventions for Black caregivers of persons with mental illness will be discussed.

Learning Objectives:

• Describe the multiple challenges that Black woment face as caregivers to adult children with schizophrenia.
• Able to identify differences and similarities between mid-life and aging Black women who are caring for an adult son or daughter with schizophrenia and those without such caregiving responsibilities.
• Disucss potential interventions for Black caregivers of adults with schizophrenia.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.