Effortful Control and Sociability among Caregivers of Psychiatric Patients: A Demographic Lens

Abstract

Research has extensively examined socio-emotional and psychological outcomes among caregivers of psychiatric patients but focused less on personality and temperamental factors. The aim of this cross-sectional, face-to-face survey is to compare the levels of effortful control and sociability traits between caregivers and non-caregivers of psychiatric patients. We also examined age, gender, and educational differences in the sample. We recruited families of psychiatric patients during hospital and home visits and shortlisted 93 caregivers and 110 non-caregivers ages 20 through 40. Findings showed that caregivers scored lower on effortful control and sociability than non-caregivers as hypothesized, but mean differences in effortful control were non-significant. Sex and educational differences were non-significant. However, older adults had more effortful control and higher sociability than younger adults. Theoretically, these findings extend awareness about risk factors in the caregiving process that can aid mental health professionals to design psycho-educational and counseling programs for temperament regulation of caregivers of mentally ill people.