Introduction

The Family Burden Interview (FBI) is a semi-structured interview developed to provide a comprehensive assessment of the emotional, social, and functional burden experienced by families caring for individuals with severe mental disorders and other chronic medical conditions. Originally designed for research involving families of people with psychiatric illnesses, the interview has since been applied to a wide range of chronic physical diseases and long-term health conditions, allowing researchers and clinicians to evaluate how illness affects the everyday functioning of the entire family system. The interview is typically administered to the primary informal caregiver, such as a parent, spouse, adult child, or another close relative, although information may also be obtained from multiple family members when appropriate. A distinctive feature of the FBI is its assessment of both objective burden, which reflects the observable consequences of illness on family life, and subjective burden, which captures caregivers’ emotional experiences and personal perceptions of caregiving demands. This multidimensional approach enables healthcare professionals to identify family needs and develop targeted psychosocial interventions that improve caregiver well-being and family functioning.

Description

The Family Burden Interview is a clinician-administered, semi-structured assessment that explores the broad impact of chronic illness on family life. It examines multiple domains, including household management, financial burden, relationships between the patient and relatives, social functioning, family adaptation to illness, parenting responsibilities, and satisfaction with healthcare services. Through guided questioning, the interviewer obtains both quantitative ratings and qualitative information that provide a detailed understanding of the caregiving experience.

Unlike self-administered questionnaires, the FBI allows trained professionals to clarify responses, explore complex issues in greater depth, and evaluate the context in which caregiving occurs. This comprehensive assessment facilitates a holistic understanding of how chronic illness influences family relationships, daily routines, emotional well-being, and long-term adaptation. The distinction between objective and subjective burden provides valuable clinical insight, recognizing that the practical demands of caregiving and the emotional impact on caregivers do not always occur to the same degree.

Data Analysis and Interpretation

The Family Burden Interview generates standardized information regarding both objective and subjective caregiver burden, allowing clinicians and researchers to evaluate the multidimensional effects of illness on families. Responses are systematically recorded and rated by trained interviewers, enabling comparisons across caregivers, clinical populations, healthcare settings, and intervention programs.

The interview is widely used to investigate relationships between caregiver burden and variables such as symptom severity, illness duration, caregiver mental health, family functioning, quality of life, coping strategies, resilience, social support, healthcare utilization, and treatment outcomes. Because the FBI provides structured assessment data, it can be incorporated into descriptive statistical analyses, reliability assessment using Cronbach’s alpha, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (EFA and CFA) when appropriate, correlation analysis, multiple regression, mediation and moderation analysis, structural equation modeling (SEM), multilevel modeling, and longitudinal studies examining changes in caregiver burden following psychosocial or healthcare interventions.

According to the available documentation, the Family Burden Interview demonstrates satisfactory psychometric performance. Conceptual validity has been supported through correlations with the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ), while internal consistency has been reported with Cronbach’s alpha values ranging from 0.65 to 0.70, indicating acceptable reliability for both research and clinical applications.

Purpose

The primary purpose of the Family Burden Interview is to provide a systematic evaluation of the overall burden imposed by severe or chronic illness on family members and informal caregivers. More specifically, the interview is designed to assess both objective and subjective family burden, evaluate the effects of illness on daily family functioning, identify areas in which families require additional psychosocial support, facilitate the planning of individualized interventions, evaluate the effectiveness of mental health and family support programs, and support research investigating caregiver burden and caregivers’ quality of life. By examining the broader consequences of illness beyond the affected individual, the FBI contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of family adaptation and supports the development of family-centered healthcare services.

Scoring

The Family Burden Interview is administered as a semi-structured interview, with caregivers’ responses recorded and evaluated by a trained interviewer. Ratings are completed separately for objective burden, reflecting observable disruptions to family functioning, and subjective burden, reflecting caregivers’ personal emotional experiences and perceived caregiving demands. Based on the interview findings, the overall level of family burden is typically categorized as low, moderate, or high. The assessment process also identifies specific areas in which additional family support may be required, providing practical guidance for psychosocial intervention planning and individualized care.

Applications

The Family Burden Interview is widely used in mental health services, psychiatric hospitals, community mental health programs, family and caregiver support services, rehabilitation centers for chronic illnesses, and healthcare settings managing long-term physical diseases. It is extensively employed in research examining informal caregiver burden, family quality of life, psychosocial adaptation, and the impact of chronic illness on family systems. The interview is also valuable for evaluating psychosocial interventions, family-centered treatment programs, and healthcare services designed to reduce caregiver burden and improve family well-being. By distinguishing between objective caregiving demands and caregivers’ subjective emotional experiences, the FBI provides clinicians and researchers with a comprehensive understanding of family burden, supporting the development of targeted interventions that strengthen family resilience, enhance caregiver support, and improve the quality of long-term healthcare delivery.