Abstract:
Background: Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder that affects how a person
thinks, feels, and behaves. The challenges of providing care for a family member with
schizophrenia might make it difficult to care for them. Determining coping strategies and related
factors can aid in creating treatments that assist caregivers and enhance outcomes for the
individual with schizophrenia, as well as the caregivers.
Objective: To assess levels of coping strategies and associated factors among caregivers of
patients with schizophrenia at the outpatient unit of JMC, Jimma, southwest Ethiopia, 2024.
Methods: A hospital-based cross-sectional study was employed. Data collection was conducted
among 400 caregivers of patients with schizophrenia selected by consecutive sampling methods at
the Jimma Medical Center psychiatry clinic from November 10 to December 20, 2024.
Interviewer-administered questionnaires using Brief Cope were utilized. Psychological distress
was evaluated using the ten-item Kessler psychological distress scale (K10); the 12-item Zarit
burden scale assessed caregiver burden, and social support was measured using the Oslo-3 Social
Support Scale. Data were entered into the Kobo tool and exported to IBM SPSS Statistics Version
25.0 for analysis. A descriptive study was performed. Bivariate and multivariate linear regression
were used for data analysis. A P-value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Result: A total of 400 caregivers were involved in the study, with a response rate of 100 %.The
most commonly used coping strategy was emotion-focused (Mean=6.7, SD=1.52). The most
frequently used emotion-focused coping strategy was Religion (Mean=6.24, SD=1.58). 26 % had
psychological distress, and 44.8% reported caregiver burden. When included in multiple linear
regression, psychological distress and social support are significantly associated with all three
coping strategies.
Conclusion: The study reveals that emotion-focused coping is the most common strategy among
caregivers of schizophrenia patients, highlighting the reliance on emotional regulation and social
support. However, the study also found high levels of psychological distress and caregiver burden,
highlighting the need for targeted interventions to address emotional and psychological needs and
improve mental health outcomes
