Personality features, caring burden and mental health of cohabitants of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or dementia

Abstract

Objectives: The interplay between personality, mental health and type of disease in explaining caring burden was studied in home-dwelling cohabitants of partners with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or dementia.

Methods: A cross-sectional study including 206 participants with 80% response rate. Neuroticism was assessed by Eysenck Personality Questionnaire (EPQ) and externality by Locus of Control of Behaviour. The Relative Stress Scale evaluated caring burden. Mental health was determined by the General Health Quality (GHQ-28) questionnaire.

Results: Neuroticism and type of illness played a major role in explaining caring burden and mental health. In the COPD and dementia groups, 30.5% and 58.4%, respectively, were above the cut-off point for psychiatric caseness on the GHQ. Both groups had low scores for depression and high scores for social dysfunction, anxiety, insomnia and somatisation. Compared to the dementia group, the COPD group had lower scores and fairly stable levels on all subscales of the GHQ. Females had higher scores on somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia; they also reported higher scores on neuroticism and externality.

Conclusion: Differences in personality and illness explained both caring burden and mental health among caregivers. To mitigate the caring burden and mental health problems among home-dwelling caregivers, public health services need to take into account the personality and gender of the caregiver, and also the disease of the ill partner.

Keywords:

• caregiver
• spouses
• Alzheimer's
• pulmonary diseases