Influence of Psychosocial Factors on Psychological Wellbeing of Patients' Caregivers at Federal Medical Centre Makurdi, Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the influence of psychosocial factors on psychological wellbeing of patients' caregivers at Federal Medical Centre Makurdi. Participants for the study were 208 consisting of 99 (47.6%) males and 109(52.4%) females.Their ages ranged from 17-56 years with the mean age of 31.4 years (SD = 11.6 ). Care-related Stress Scale (CSS) with reliability of .73 Cronbach's alpha and Ryff's Psychological Wellbeing Scale (RPBS) with reliability of .87 Cronbach's alpha were used for data collection. Statistical analysis involved the use of Pearson's Moment Correlation, Independent t- test and One-Way ANOVA. Findings from the hypotheses indicated that, Care-related stress was significantly related to psychological wellbeing r (206df) = -.33, p< .01. Male and female care-givers differed significantly on psychological wellbeing t (206df) = 8.164, p < .05. There was a significant difference between caregivers who spent less than 5 years on care-giving and those who spent 5 years or more on psychological wellbeing t (206df) -6.174, p< .05. There was a significant difference in the income of caregivers on psychological wellbeing F (2, 205) = 4.51, p < .05. The implications and limitations of the study were discussed and recommendations made for further research.

Keywords: Psychological wellbeing, Patients’ Caregivers, Care-related stress, Federal Medical Center, Makurdi.