Personality and psychological adjustment in formal caregivers. What is best for caring is also the best for caregivers?

Abstract

Caring for a dependent person can involve a risk for the caregiver’s psychological health. This risk is clarified by the individual differences in per-sonality. These are stable but non-definitive personal characteristics, and their variability in efficiency depends on the context. The processes involved in caregivers’ adaptation can facilitate or hinder general psychological adjustment and well-being. Objectives: To explore which caregiver characteristics are consi-dered suitable to care for others and to contribute to caregivers’ better functioning and well-being. Methods: 171 formal caregivers (mean age = 36.34, SD = 9.99) completed the Millon Index of Personality Styles, which assesses normal persona-lity and offers a Clinical Index, to evaluate psychological adjustment; the Global Satisfaction scale; and the CUIDA, a questionnaire of the appropriate affective and cognitive variables to offer good care to others. Multiple stepwise linear regressions were carried out. Results: Caregiver characteristics related to In-dependence and Altruism explained poorer psychological adjustment, whereas Self-Esteem, Sociability, and Emotional Balance explained better personal ad-justment. Self-Esteem and Sociability explained higher Global Satisfaction, whereas Openness explained lower Satisfaction. Conclusions: Some personal characteristics that may be important for caregiving may not facilitate good psychological adjustment and well-being in some caregiving contexts. Per-sonal adaptation, as defined herein, depends on the context.