February-March 2020, Volume 14, Issue 6 DOI: 10.21859/ijnr-140601 Copyright © 2020 The Author(s); Published by Iranian Journal of Nursing Research. This is an open access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses /by-nc/4.0/) which permits others to copy and redistribute material just in noncommercial usages, provided the original work is properly cited. Iranian Journal of Nursing Research (IJNR) Original Article Relationship Between the Stigma and the Family Performance of Psychiatric Patients Saber Farzi 1 , Farshid Shamsaei 2 , Leili Tapak 3 , Efat Sadeghian 4,* 1 MSc of Psychiatric Nursing, Department of Nursing, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 2 Associate Professor, Behavioral Disorders and Substance Abuse Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical sciences, Hamadan 3 Department of Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran 4 Assistant Professor, Chronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran * Corresponding author: Efat Sadeghian, Assistant Professor, Chronic Diseases (Home Care) Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, Iran. Tel: +98-8138380150, E-mail: sadeghianefat@gmail.com Received: 23 Jun 2019 Accepted: 10 Sep 2019 Abstract Introduction: The most common and challenging burden of care in family members of the mentally ill is the problem of disease-induced stigma. Stigma refers to a set of negative attitudes, beliefs, and thoughts about a particular situation that includes the family in addition to the individual. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between the stigma and the family carers ’ function in the mental health system. Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 278 caregivers of psychiatric patients referred to Farshchian (Sina) Educational Center of Hamadan in 1977 were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected using three questionnaires: demographic, stigma assessment, family functioning assessment tool. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics in SPSS software. Results: The mean and standard deviation of stigma and general family functioning were 72.9 ± 14.12 and 2.20 ± 0.26, respectively. There was a significant relationship (P < 0.05) between stigma and general functioning as well as the domains of affective fusion, emotional responsiveness, and behavioral control from the Family Functioning Questionnaire (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Given the relationship between stigma and family functioning of psychiatric patients, community education at different levels on appropriate treatment of these patients and their families through the media, health centers, and universities is recommended. Keywords: Stigma, Family, Mental Disorder, Caregivers © 2020 Iranian Nursing Scientific Association (INA)