Predictive impacts of associative-stigma and duration of caregiving on anxiety disorder and depression levels of primary caregivers of patients with mental disorders in Nigeria

Abstract

Caregivers of patients with mental disorder come with different challenges. In this study, the impacts of associative stigma and duration of caregiving on anxiety disorder and depression levels of primary caregivers of patients with mental disorders in Nigeria were examined. 300 participants comprising of 95 males and 205 females, with age range of 18 to 64 years (M=44.47, SD= 4.25) years participated in the study. Participants were all caregivers to patients with notable or recognizable mental disorders at Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Uselu, Benin-City Edo State. Purposive sampling method was employed in the selection of the participants. Beck’s Anxiety Inventory (BAI), Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and Brief-Stigma-By-Association Scale were instruments for data collection. Cross-Sectional Survey design was adopted, while data were analyzed using Pearson correlations and 2-step hierarchical multiple regression statistics. Results show that both associative stigma and duration of caregiving positively predicted anxiety disorder and depression among primary caregivers of patients with mental disorders (p<.01) respectively. The findings create the need for inclusion of stigma reduction programmes and support services for
caregivers as well as increased sensitization of the public in curbing stigmatization of caregivers of patients with
mental disorders.