The purpose of this study were to examine the influence of personality on mental and physical health of spouse caregivers and to determine whether there were differences in such influences depending on disease context. The disease contexts compared were Alzheimer's disease (AD) and Parkinson's disease (PD; with no coexisting dementia)--both chronic, degenerative diseases of later life. It was predicted that personality would be related to mental and physical health, directly and indirectly, and that AD caregivers would have higher levels of perceived stress and worse mental and physical health outcomes. Participants in the study were 175 caregivers (88 AD; 87 PD) living at home with their ill spouses. The data provided an excellent fit to the hypothesized model of the relationships between personality, disease group, social support, perceived stress, and mental and physical health. Seventy-eight percent of the variance in mental health was accounted for and 35% of the variance in physical health was explained. Personality had significant direct and indirect effects on mental health and significant indirect effects on physical health. As predicted, AD caregivers had significantly worse mental health than PD caregivers; however, AD caregivers had better physical health than PD caregivers, controlling for other variables in the model. These results are discussed in relation to the existing caregiving and behavioral medicine literature. Future research should include different domains of personality--states and longer term self-regulatory processes in addition to traits--to advance models of caregiving processes further.
Personality factors and coping strategies were examined among a sample of spouse caregivers. Fifty spouse caregivers of patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease or a related dementia completed the NEO-FFI, a personality inventory designed to measure traits identified in the five-factor trait model, and a revised measure of the Ways of Coping Checklist. Results from a series of multivariate regressions showed that personality traits explained 60% of the variance in emotion-focused coping, 30% of variance in problem-focused coping, and 15% of variance associated with social support coping. Discussion focuses on the usefulness of including personality characteristics of the caregiver in formulating models of the caregiving coping process.
Two studies were conducted to assess motivational aspects of the self by measuring hoped-for and feared possible selves among a sample of older adults and college students. It was predicted that health-related possible selves would be predominant among older adults, but not college students, and that self-regulatory aspects of possible selves would be related to perceived health. Data were collected through interviews and questionnaires. Older adults were significantly more likely to have possible selves in the realm of health than were college students. Regression analyses with the older sample indicate that outcome expectancy for a hoped-for self was positively related to perceived health, whereas amount of time spent thinking about a hoped-for possible self was negatively related to perceived health. However, these relationships were not significant when evaluated in relation to a feared possible self, indicating that there may be differences in the way self-regulatory processes operate in service of positive, as opposed to negative, goals for the self. Results are discussed with reference to theoretical models of self-efficacy and motivation over the life span.
The construct of possible selves was used to examine when, in the adult life span, health-related goals become dominant. It was predicted that by middle age most adults would have health-related possible selves and that the strength of self-regulatory variables associated with health-related possible selves would be related to reported health behaviors. Data collected from 171 young and middle-aged adults showed that health-related possible selves become predominant in midlife. In addition, both young and middle-aged adults reported more feared than hoped-for selves in the realm of health. Perceived self-efficacy and number of goal-oriented activities to avoid feared health-relevant selves were significant predictors of health behaviors. Results are discussed in relation to theoretical perspectives on self and health processes over the life span.
The purpose of this article is to introduce a newly emerging model of personality that integrates structures and processes within a levels-of-analysis framework. This model, labeled the six foci of personality, includes traits, personal action constructs, and life stories as structural components, and it includes states, self-regulation, and self-narration as the parallel process constructs. Conceptual and methodological issues are discussed in relation to this model, and each of the six foci is reviewed for its relevance to personality and aging. It is argued that the model provides a framework so that the research base in each of the six focal areas can be nurtured, solidified, and organized-ultimately contributing to a more integrative, comprehensive understanding of personality and its importance over the life span.
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