Psychological impact on caregivers traumatized by the violent behavior of a family member with schizophrenia.

Background: A combination of factors such as substance abuse problems, medication noncompliance, and insufficient insight are generally known to increase the risk of violent behavior. However, little is known regarding the psychological impact on caregivers who are traumatized by the violent behavior of a family member with schizophrenia. Therefore, we carried out an investigation to measure this impact.