A narrative analysis investigating the impact of first episode psychosis on siblings’ identity

Sharon Newman, Laura Simonds and Jo Billings

Psychosis, 2011, vol. 3, issue 3, 216-225

Abstract: Research investigating the impact and experience of first episode psychosis amongst siblings is limited. This study reports the findings of a narrative analysis of the accounts of four siblings, two male and two female, aged between 17 and 24 years, of young people with a first episode of psychosis. The aim of the analysis was to explore the impact of this experience on siblings’ sense of self and their identity development and the roles they adopt within their families. The analysis focused on the core narrative, tone and genre of each account as well as providing a cross-case analysis. This cross-case analysis indicated an overarching genre of “rite of passage” within which a gender difference was interpreted. The emphasis in the accounts of the two young women was on finding personal meaning whereas, for the two young men, the emphasis was on taking up responsibilities. As found in other studies of serious mental health problems, siblings provide much direct and indirect care for their families. The implications for services providing support to siblings and families in early intervention services are discussed. Research investigating the impact and experience of first episode psychosis amongst siblings is limited. This study reports the findings of a narrative analysis of the accounts of four siblings, two male and two female, aged between 17 and 24 years, of young people with a first episode of psychosis. The aim of the analysis was to explore the impact of this experience on siblings’ sense of self and their identity development and the roles they adopt within their families. The analysis focused on the core narrative, tone and genre of each account as well as providing a cross-case analysis. This cross-case analysis indicated an overarching genre of “rite of passage” within which a gender difference was interpreted. The emphasis in the accounts of the two young women was on finding personal meaning whereas, for the two young men, the emphasis was on taking up responsibilities. As found in other studies of serious mental health problems, siblings provide much direct and indirect care for their families. The implications for services providing support to siblings and families in early intervention services are discussed.

Date: 2011
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/17522439.2010.542588 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:rpsyxx:v:3:y:2011:i:3:p:216-225

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/RPSY20

DOI: 10.1080/17522439.2010.542588

Access Statistics for this article

Psychosis is currently edited by Dr John Read

More articles in Psychosis from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().