OTHER-RELIANCE ENCOURAGEMENT EFFECTS IN FEMALE RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS PATIENTS

Physical illness and aging processes are two of the major stressors of older adults. Both are life processes that often threaten mental heal th since the individual is faced with limitations imposed on personal control and autonomy. Such effects might be expected to relate to the individual's own personal beliefs in control. Social support processes play a significant role in adjusting to these stresses, but those pro cesses often are themselves threats to control. Caregivers are motivat ed to ''be helpful,'' but that desire may lead to attempts to take ove r personal control and autonomy and these may themselves lead to decre ases in mental health. Encouragement of reliance on other people is on e such behavior common among caregivers. This study employed a Person/ Environment Fit model, assessing caregivers' (husbands') reports of ot her-reliance encouragement toward their ill wives (N = 62). Three subj ect variables postulated to be important ''person variables'' were the subject's internal-external control beliefs, her age, and her health status (illness recency and severity). The results showed that other-r eliance encouragement was related to increased age and poorer health, suggesting that caregivers engage in such behaviors for older and more ill spouses. Two multiple regression tests showed that it led to incr eased distress for younger externals and older internals in relatively good health. However, it led to less distress for subjects who were i n poor health if their disease occurrence was more recent. Caregiver b ehavior effects depend on the context of control dispositions and heal th status variables; there was evidence that encouraging patients to r ely on other people sometimes has helpful mental health benefits.