Personality and Psychological Distress Among General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists

Aim: In the professional field, the individual characteristics of the medical and mental health professionals play an important role in dealing with their patients and overall functioning of their life. Stressful working situations may precipitate psychological distress which may impact the psychological functioning of the health and mental health professionals. The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between Personality and Psychological Distress among General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists. Method: A sample of 30 practitioners were taken for both groups i.e., General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists from different government, private hospitals and clinics of Lucknow, following the inclusion and exclusion criteria. The sample was selected by using purposive and snowball sampling technique and ex-post facto research design was used. The tools used were Sociodemographic datasheet, Eysenck Personality Questionnaire Revised by Hans J. Eysenck and Sybil B. G. Eysenck (1991) and Kessler Psychological Distress Scale by Ronald C. Kessler and Mroczek (1994). The results were analysed using Spearman‟s Rank Order Method for correlation and Kruskal-Wallis to assess significant difference among all variables. Results: The results showed that there was a significant difference in Neuroticism among General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists at 0.05 level. The results also showed that there was a significant positive relationship between Psychoticism and Psychological Distress among General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists (P < 0.01) and a significant positive relationship between Neuroticism and Psychological Distress among General Physicians and Clinical Psychologists (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Clinical Psychologists scored high in Psychoticism and Extraversion. General Physicians scored high in Neuroticism. Lie Scale (Social Desirability) and Psychological Distress was found to be high among General Physicians.