01938nas a2200277 4500008004100000022001400041245011500055210006900170260001300239300001200252490000700264520116100271653000901432653001501441653001501456653001101471653001101482653000901493653002301502653001601525653002701541653002601568100001601594700001401610856003601624 1998 eng d a1079-501400aThe role of neuroticism and mastery in spouse caregivers' assessment of and response to a contextual stressor.0 arole of neuroticism and mastery in spouse caregivers assessment c1998 May aP155-640 v533 a
Data from more than 300 spousal caregivers and their care recipients were analyzed to demonstrate the effects of caregivers' personality attributes--neuroticism and mastery--on their assessment of a contextual stressor (the care recipient's behavioral and functional impairment) and on their experience of distress associated with that stressor. Caregivers who were high in neuroticism and/or low in mastery reported higher levels of behavioral and functional impairment in their disabled spouse and experienced more strain and depressive symptoms associated with caregiving relative to caregivers with lower neuroticism or higher mastery scores. We further showed that the widely reported association between caregiver-assessed impairment of the care recipient and caregiver outcomes can in part be explained by caregivers' personality attributes, such as neuroticism and mastery. Our findings that caregivers' personality variables are related to their assessment of a given objective stressor and their response to a given level of stress have implications for interventions targeting caregivers and for the use of caregivers as proxy informants.
10aAged10aCaregivers10aDepression10aFemale10aHumans10aMale10aNeurotic Disorders10aPersonality10aPersonality Assessment10aStress, Psychological1 aBookwala, J1 aSchulz, R uhttps://chs-nhlbi.org/node/1505