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Objective: The correlates of parental burden in schizophrenia may differ between ethnic groups, but few studies have examined this in a UK setting. Our aim was to identify the correlates of burden in a UK sample of first-generation North Indian Punjabi Sikh parents and their white British counterparts. Method: Test the association of burden with a series of clinical, social and service use variables and control for potential confounding factors in a model predicting drivers of burden in a combined sample of the above. Results: The strongest correlates of burden were patient symptoms and parental distress. Differences in correlates of burden between the groups emerged when individual components of service use and parental social network were tested. The group comparisons also revealed differences in expressed emotion (EE) and social networks. Conclusion: The similarities in sources of burden between the groups could be explained by a commonality of socio- cultural and economic experience, resulting from the successful acculturation and affluence of this British Sikh group. The differences between the groups may be related to enduring cultural factors such as kin support, since larger family groups were associated with low burden in the British Sikh group. The nature of EE in this British Sikh group may explain why it was not associated with burden in this sample. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Caregiver burden in mental illness is believed to differ between ethnic groups, but few studies have examined this in schizophrenia in the UK.Aim: To measure burden in British North Indian Sikh and white British parents with a son or daughter with established schizophrenia managed in outpatient care.Method: A cross-cultural cohort study measuring family factors, patient psychopathology and levels of burden and distress.Results: Overall levels of burden were low with no significant differences between the groups. Burden subscale scores showed Indian parents were more affected by psychotic behaviours than white parents. The groups also differed on several sociodemographic variables.Conclusion: In stabilized community patients, the overall extent of burden experienced by both Indian and white parents is low and comparable. However, Indian parents were more burdened by psychotic behaviours. This may be a result of co-residence as Indian patients are more likely to live with their families. Social and economic factors in the country of residence and levels of acculturation may also influence levels of burden and the illness behaviours found most bothersome by parents. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]