Abstract: Objective To summarize the influencing factors of physical and mental health of caregivers of people with bipolar disorder and to construct the conceptual framework for physical and mental progression which could explicit psychological prognosis mechanism of caregivers. Methods Based on social ecosystem theory, resource conservation model and social cognition theory, various dimensions of the framework were defined. Supported by psychological resilience model and literature related to bipolar disorder or other serious mental diseases, the core influencing factors were extracted to construct the conceptual framework of physical and mental progression. Results There were four major dimensions in the framework including social environment level, which contains the key influencing factors such as cultural value, economic factors, employment relationship and care burden; human-environment interaction level containing social alienation or isolation, social support, social conflict; individual performance level containing mental or psychological disorders, substance abuse, physical conditions, domestic violence; and individual inner level with psychological resilience and its risk and protective characteristics. Conclusion The core factors based on four dimensions in the framework are interactive and nesting, which play an evaluative and predictive role in the physical and mental development of family members. This conceptual framework can provide a theoretical basis for subsequent empirical studies, however, it still needs to be tested by quantitative studies.

Key words: bipolar disorder, care burden, mental illness