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Informal caregiving transitions, subjective well-being and depressed mood: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

ABSTRACT: To prospectively investigate the impact of transitions in informal caregiving on emotional well-being over two years in a large population study of older people.Information on provision of unpaid care in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 was available for 6571 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Three well-being domains were also assessed on each occasion: life satisfaction (measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale); quality of life (assessed with the CASP-19 scale); and depression symptoms (measured using the Centers for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale). Multivariable analyses of the impact on well-being of two-year caregiving transitions (caregiving entry and caregiving exit, or continued caring) were conducted separately for spousal/child carers and carers of other family/non-relatives.Compared to non-caregiving, entry into spousal/child caregiving was associated with decline in quality of life (B = -1.60, p < .01) whereas entry into caregiving involving other kin relations increased life satisfaction (B = 1.02, p < .01) and lowered depression symptoms (B = -0.26, p < .05). Contrary to expectations, caregiving exit was related to increased depression in both spousal/child (B = 0.44, p < .01) and non-spousal/child (B = 0.25, p < .05) carers. Continued spousal/child caregiving was also related to decline in quality of life (B = -1.24, p < .05). Other associations were suggestive but non-significant.The emotional impact of different caregiving transitions in later life differs across kin relationships; notably, spousal and child carers' well-being was consistently compromised at every stage of their caregiving career over the two-year study period.

SUBMITTER: Rafnsson SB

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5582155 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Informal caregiving transitions, subjective well-being and depressed mood: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Rafnsson Snorri Bjorn SB Shankar Aparna A Steptoe Andrew A

Aging & mental health 20150924 1

<h4>Objectives</h4>To prospectively investigate the impact of transitions in informal caregiving on emotional well-being over two years in a large population study of older people.<h4>Methods</h4>Information on provision of unpaid care in 2004/2005 and 2006/2007 was available for 6571 participants in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. Three well-being domains were also assessed on each occasion: life satisfaction (measured with the Satisfaction with Life Scale); quality of life (assessed ...[more]

PMID: 26404725

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Project description:Background/objectivesFew studies have rigorously examined the magnitude of changes in well-being after a transition into sustained and substantial caregiving, especially in population-based studies, compared with matched noncaregiving controls.DesignWe identified individuals from a national epidemiological investigation who transitioned into caregiving over a 10- to 13-year follow-up and provided continuous in-home care for at least 18 months and at least 5 hours per week. Individuals who did not become caregivers were individually matched with caregivers on age, sex, race, education, marital status, self-rated health, and history of cardiovascular disease at baseline. Both groups were assessed at baseline and follow-up.SettingREasons for Geographic And Racial Differences in Stroke study.ParticipantsA total of 251 incident caregivers and 251 matched controls.MeasurementsPerceived Stress Scale (PSS), 10-Item Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D), and 12-item Short-Form Health Survey quality-of-life mental (MCS) and physical (PCS) component scores.ResultsCaregivers showed significantly greater worsening in PSS, CES-D, and MCS, with standardized effect sizes ranging from 0.676 to 0.796 compared with changes in noncaregivers. A significant but smaller effect size was found for worsening PCS in caregivers (0.242). Taking on sustained caregiving was associated with almost a tripling of increased risk of transitioning to clinically significant depressive symptoms at follow-up. Effects were not moderated by race, sex, or relationship to care recipient, but younger caregivers showed greater increases in CES-D than older caregivers.ConclusionPersons who began substantial, sustained family caregiving had marked worsening of psychological well-being, and relatively smaller worsening of self-reported physical health, compared with carefully matched noncaregivers. Previous estimates of effect sizes on caregiver well-being have had serious limitations due to use of convenience sampling and cross-sectional comparisons. Researchers, public policy makers, and clinicians should note these strong effects, and caregiver assessment and service provision for psychological well-being deserve increased priority.

Dataset Information

Informal caregiving transitions, subjective well-being and depressed mood: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Publications

Informal caregiving transitions, subjective well-being and depressed mood: Findings from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.

Similar Datasets

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