An investigation was conducted to explore: (1) whether psychological and physical morbidity share similar psychosocial determinants; (2) the long-term stability of these determinants; and (3) the role of neuroticism in predicting psychological and physical morbidity. Fifty spousal caregivers of dementia patients were recruited into a 12-month study. Participants were followed up at six-monthly interva ls during which they completed scales measuring psychosocial mediators, psychological morbidity, physical morbidity and neuroticism. Psychological morbidity was influenced primarily by indices of coping and neuroticism. Physical morbidity was influenced primarily by indices of psychological morbidity (increased psychological morbidity was associated with perceptions of greater physical morbidity). Neuroticism exhibited significant cross-sectional and longitudinal relationships with the indices of psychological morbidity, but only cross-sectional relationships with the indices of physical morbidity.
Aalto, A-M., Uutela, A., & Aro, A. R. (1997). Health related quality of life among insulin-dependent diabetics: Disease-related and psychosocial correlates. Patient Education and Counseling, 30, 215–225.
2.
Andresen, E. M., Patrick, D. L., Carter, W. B., & Malmgren, J. A. (1995). Comparing the performance of health status measures for healthy older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 43, 1030–1034.
3.
Baron, R. M., & Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator–mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 6, 1173–1182.
4.
Beckham, J. C., Burker, E. J., Lytle, B. L., Feldman, M. E., & Costakis, M. J. (1997). Self-efficacy and adjustment in cancer patients: A preliminary report. Behavioral Medicine, 23, 138–142.
5.
Cohen, S., Kamarack, T., & Mermelstein, R. (1983). A Global Measure of Perceived Stress. Journal of Health and Social Behaviour, 24, 385–396.
6.
Dwyer, K. A. (1997). Psychosocial factors and health status in women with rheumatoid arthritis: Predictive models. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 13, 66–72.
7.
Eysenck, H. J., & Eysenck, S. B. G. (1975). Manual of the Eysenck Personality Questionnaire. London: Hodder & Stoughton.
8.
Folkman, S., & Lazarus, R. S. (1988). The Ways of Coping Questionnaire. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists’ Press.
9.
Fortune, D. G., Main, C. J., O’Sullivan, T. M., & Griffiths, C. E. M. (1997). Quality of life in patients with psoriasis: The contribution of clinical variables and psoriasis-specific stress. British Journal of Dermatology, 137, 755–760.
10.
Hooker, K., Monahan, D. J., Bowman, S. R., Frazier, L. D., & Shifren, K. (1998). Personality counts for a lot: Predictors of mental and physical health of spouse caregivers in two disease groups. Journals of Gerontology Series B—Psychological Sciences & Social Sciences, 53, 73–85.
11.
Jones, D. A., & Peters, T. J. (1992). Caring for elderly dependants—effects on the carers’ quality of life. Age and Ageing, 21, 421–428.
12.
Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K., Dura, J. R., Speicher, C. E., Trask, O. J., & Glaser, R. (1991). Spousal caregivers of dementia victims: Longitudinal changes in immunity and health. Psychosomatic Medicine, 53, 345–362.
13.
Kirschbaum, C., Prussner, J. C., Stone, A. A., Federenko, I., Gaab, J., Lintz, D., Schommer, N., & Hellhammer, D. H. (1995). Persistent high cortisol responses to repeated psychological stress in a subpopulation of healthy men. Psychosomatic Medicine, 57, 468–474.
14.
Kissane, D. W., Clarke, D. M., Ikin, J., Bloch, S., Smith, G. C., Vitetta, L., & McKenzie, D. P. (1998). Psychological morbidity and quality of life in Australian women with early-stage breast cancer: A cross-sectional survey. Medical Journal of Australia, 169, 192–196.
15.
Lazarus, R. S., & Folkman, S. (1984). Stress, appraisal and coping. New York: Springer.
16.
Lutzky, S. M., & Knight, B. G. (1994). Explaining gender differences in caregiver distress: The role of emotional attentiveness and coping styles. Psychology and Ageing, 9, 513–519.
17.
Lyons, R. A., Perry, H. M., & Littlepage, B. N. C. (1994). Evidence for the validity of the short-form 36 questionnaire (SF-36) in an elderly population. Age and Ageing, 23, 182–184.
18.
McKee, K. J., Whittick, J. E., Ballinger, B. B., Gilhooly, M. M. L., Gordon, D. S., Mutch, W. J., & Philp, I. (1997). Coping in family supporters of elderly people with dementia. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 36, 323–340.
19.
Montazeri, A., Gillis, C. R., & McEwen, J. (1998). Quality of life in patients with lung cancer: A review of literature from 1970 to 1995. Chest, 113, 467–481.
20.
Paterson, R. J., & Neufeld, R. W. J. (1989). The stress response and parameters of stressful situations. In R. W. J. Neufeld (Ed.), Advances in the Investigation of Psychological Stress, 7–42. New York: Wiley.
21.
Pavis, S., Cunningham-Burley, S., & Amos, A. (1997). Alcohol consumption and young people: Exploring meaning and social context. Health Education Research, 12, 311–322.
22.
Power, M. J., & Champion, L. A. (1992). The Significant Others Scale. In D. Milne (Ed.), Assessment: A mental health portfolio, 18–29.
23.
Windsor: NFER-Nelson. Redinbaugh, E. M., MacCallum, R. C., & Kiecolt-Glaser, J. K. (1995). Recurrent syndromal depression in caregivers. Psychology and Aging, 10, 358–368.
24.
Sander, A. M., High, W. M. Jr., Hannay, H. J., & Sherer, M. (1997). Predictors of psychological health in caregivers of patients with closed head injury. Brain Injury, 11, 235–249.
25.
Savage, R. D. (1990). Savage Personality Screening Scale (SPSS-20). Interim manual notes. Western Australia: Murdoch University.
26.
Schulz, R., O’Brien, A. T., Bookwala, J., & Fleissner, K. (1995). Psychiatric and physical morbidity effects of dementia caregiving: Prevalence, correlates, and causes. Gerontologist, 35, 771–791.
27.
Schulz, R., Visintainer, P., & Williamson, G. M. (1990). Psychiatric and physical morbidity effects of caregiving. Journals of Gerontology, 45, 181–191.
28.
Shaw, W. S., Patterson, T. L., Semple, S. J., Ho, S., Irwin, M. R., Hauger, R. L., & Grant, I. (1997). Longitudinal analysis of multiple indicators of health decline among spousal caregivers. Annals of Behavioural Medicine, 19, 101–109.
29.
Tjemsland, L., Soreide, J. A., & Malt, U. F. (1996). Traumatic distress symptoms in early breast cancer I: Acute response to diagnosis. Psycho-Oncology, 5, 1–8.
30.
Vedhara, K., & Nott, K. H. (1996). Psychosocial vulnerability to stress: A study of HIV-positive homosexual men. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 41, 255–267.
31.
Ware, J. E., & Sherbourne, C. D. (1992). The MOS 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36): I. Conceptual framework and item selection. Medical Care, 30, 473–483.
32.
Watson, D., & Pennebaker, J. W. (1989). Health complaints, stress and distress: Exploring the central role of negative affectivity. Psychological Review, 96, 234–254.
33.
Zuckerman, M., Kuhlman, D. M., & Camac, C. (1988). What lies beyond E and N? Factor analyses of scales believed to measure basic dimensions of personality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 96–107.
