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The Strains and Gains of Caregiving: An Examination of the Effects of Providing Personal Care to a Parent on a Range of Indicators of Psychological Well-Being

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  • Thomas Hansen
  • Britt Slagsvold
  • Reidun Ingebretsen

Abstract

This study explores the effect of providing regular help with personal care to a resident or non-resident parent or parent-in-law on different aspects of psychological well-being. We use cross-sectional data from the Norwegian Life Course, Ageing and Generation (LOGG) study (N ~ 15,000, age 18–79) and two-wave panel data from the Norwegian study on Life course, Ageing and Generation (NorLAG) (N ~ 3,000, age 40–79). We separate outcomes into cognitive well-being (life satisfaction, partnership satisfaction, self-esteem), affective well-being (happiness, positive and negative affect, depression, loneliness) and sense of mastery. Caregiver status is largely unrelated to these aspects of well-being, both in cross-section and longitudinally. One notable exception is that caring for a resident (but not a non-resident) parent relates to lower affective well-being among women, also longitudinally. This effect is more marked among unpartnered and lower educated women. In addition, caring for a non-resident parent is associated with a positive change in sense of mastery among women. The results reviewed and presented indicate that caregiving has less detrimental effects in the Nordic countries than in other countries, highlighting the role of social policies and care systems in shaping the impact of caregiving on well-being. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Thomas Hansen & Britt Slagsvold & Reidun Ingebretsen, 2013. "The Strains and Gains of Caregiving: An Examination of the Effects of Providing Personal Care to a Parent on a Range of Indicators of Psychological Well-Being," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 323-343, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:soinre:v:114:y:2013:i:2:p:323-343
    DOI: 10.1007/s11205-012-0148-z
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    Cited by:

    1. Morten Blekesaune & Thomas Hansen, 2021. "Human Values and Retirement Experiences: a Longitudinal Analysis of Norwegian Data," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 157(3), pages 1001-1019, October.
    2. Chen, Lu & Fan, Hongli & Chu, Lanlan, 2019. "The hidden cost of informal care: An empirical study on female caregivers' subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 85-93.
    3. Lawrence B. Sacco & Stefanie König & Hugo Westerlund & Loretta G. Platts, 2022. "Informal Caregiving and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Prospective Analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 845-866, April.
    4. McDonald, Rebecca & Powdthavee, Nattavudh, 2018. "The Shadow Prices of Voluntary Caregiving: Using Panel Data of Well-Being to Estimate the Cost of Informal Care," IZA Discussion Papers 11545, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Yoko Niimi, 2016. "The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 779-810, December.
    6. Else Cathrine Rustad & Berit Seiger Cronfalk & Bodil Furnes & Elin Dysvik, 2017. "Next of kin's experiences of information and responsibility during their older relatives’ care transitions from hospital to municipal health care," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(7-8), pages 964-974, April.
    7. Kamila Hynek & Aslaug Gotehus & Fredrik Methi & Ragnhild Bang Nes & Vegard Skirbekk & Thomas Hansen, 2023. "Caregiving + Migrant Background = Double Jeopardy? Associations between Caregiving and Physical and Psychological Health According to Migrant Backgrounds in Norway," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(10), pages 1-13, May.
    8. Patrick Janson & Kristina Willeke & Lisa Zaibert & Andrea Budnick & Anne Berghöfer & Sarah Kittel-Schneider & Peter U. Heuschmann & Andreas Zapf & Manfred Wildner & Carolin Stupp & Thomas Keil, 2022. "Mortality, Morbidity and Health-Related Outcomes in Informal Caregivers Compared to Non-Caregivers: A Systematic Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(10), pages 1-25, May.
    9. Thijs van den Broek & Emily Grundy, 2018. "Parental health limitations, caregiving and loneliness among women with widowed parents: longitudinal evidence from France," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 369-377, December.
    10. Gunn Steinsheim & Wenche Malmedal & Turid Follestad & Bonnie Olsen & Susan Saga, 2023. "Contextual Factors Associated with Abuse of Home-Dwelling Persons with Dementia: A Cross-Sectional Exploratory Study of Informal Caregivers," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-19, February.
    11. Lars Thiel, 2016. "Caring Alone? Social Capital and the Mental Health of Caregivers," SOEPpapers on Multidisciplinary Panel Data Research 860, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP).
    12. Heidi Gautun & Christopher Bratt, 2017. "Caring too much? Lack of public services to older people reduces attendance at work among their children," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 155-166, June.

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