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The role of neuroticism and mastery in spouse caregivers' assessment of and response to a contextual stressor.
Tuesday,2012-11-06 12:27 America/Los_Angeles — eenright
| Title | The role of neuroticism and mastery in spouse caregivers' assessment of and response to a contextual stressor. |
| Publication Type | Journal Article |
| Year of Publication | 1998 |
| Authors | Bookwala, J, Schulz, R |
| Journal | J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci |
| Volume | 53 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pagination | P155-64 |
| Date Published | 1998 May |
| ISSN | 1079-5014 |
| Keywords | Aged, Caregivers, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Neurotic Disorders, Personality, Personality Assessment, Stress, Psychological |
| Abstract | <p>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.</p> |
| Alternate Journal | J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci |
| PubMed ID | 9602831 |
| Grant List | AG 13305 / AG / NIA NIH HHS / United States MH46015 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States MH52247 / MH / NIMH NIH HHS / United States |