TY - JOUR
T1 - Personality Change Pre- to Post- Loss in Spousal Caregivers of Patients With Terminal Lung Cancer
AU - Hoerger, Michael
AU - Chapman, Benjamin P.
AU - Prigerson, Holly G.
AU - Fagerlin, Angela
AU - Mohile, Supriya G.
AU - Epstein, Ronald M.
AU - Lyness, Jeffrey M.
AU - Duberstein, Paul R.
N1 - Funding Information:
The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: National Institute of Mental Health (T32MH018911, K07MH001135, R01MH061429), National Institute on Aging (K08AG031328), and National Cancer Institute (R01CA106370).
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - Personality is relatively stable in adulthood but could change in response to life transitions, such as caring for a spouse with a terminal illness. Using a case-control design, spousal caregivers (n = 31) of patients with terminal lung cancer completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) twice, 1.5 years apart, before and after the patient's death. A demographically matched sample of community controls (n = 93) completed the NEO-FFI on a similar time frame. Based on research and theory, we hypothesized that bereaved caregivers would experience greater changes than controls in interpersonal facets of extraversion (sociability), agreeableness (prosocial and nonantagonistic), and conscientiousness (dependability). Consistent with hypotheses, bereaved caregivers experienced an increase in interpersonal orientation, becoming more sociable, prosocial, and dependable (Cohen's d =.48-.67), though there were no changes in nonantagonism. Changes were not observed in controls (ds ≤.11). These initial findings underscore the need for more research on the effect of life transitions on personality.
AB - Personality is relatively stable in adulthood but could change in response to life transitions, such as caring for a spouse with a terminal illness. Using a case-control design, spousal caregivers (n = 31) of patients with terminal lung cancer completed the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) twice, 1.5 years apart, before and after the patient's death. A demographically matched sample of community controls (n = 93) completed the NEO-FFI on a similar time frame. Based on research and theory, we hypothesized that bereaved caregivers would experience greater changes than controls in interpersonal facets of extraversion (sociability), agreeableness (prosocial and nonantagonistic), and conscientiousness (dependability). Consistent with hypotheses, bereaved caregivers experienced an increase in interpersonal orientation, becoming more sociable, prosocial, and dependable (Cohen's d =.48-.67), though there were no changes in nonantagonism. Changes were not observed in controls (ds ≤.11). These initial findings underscore the need for more research on the effect of life transitions on personality.
KW - bereavement adjustment
KW - caregiving
KW - personality change
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U2 - 10.1177/1948550614524448
DO - 10.1177/1948550614524448
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84903517518
VL - 5
SP - 722
EP - 729
JO - Social Psychological and Personality Science
JF - Social Psychological and Personality Science
SN - 1948-5506
IS - 6
ER -