Associations Between Family Function and Mental Health Service Engagement Among Severe Mental Disorders in China

Better mental health service engagement (MHSE) was identified to be an effective way to prevent relapse and worsening of the severe mental disorders (SMDs). There is a lack of evidence on the relationships between family function and MHSE among people with SMD.

To understand the current status of family function and MHSE among people with SMD and to explore the associations between family function and MHSE.

A cross-sectional study involving 486 people with SMD was conducted in Shandong province, China. Family function (the family adaptation, partnership, growth, affection, resolve [APGAR] scale) and MHSE (service engagement scale [SES]) were measured.

The results indicated that the family function of the study sample was good, and the MHSE was low. Family function was negatively associated with the SES scores (β = -0.36, p = 0.002), indicating that better family function was associated with high engagement levels (since higher SES scores indicate lower engagement).

The findings of this study provided epidemiological evidence for the association between family function and MHSE, and helped us further understand the significance of family in mental disease management.

Some interventions for family function are helpful to improve MHSE among people with SMD, and some family-oriented policies may be useful to promote MHSE.