Publication year
2017
Citation Title
Types of family caregiving and daily experiences in midlife and late adulthood: The moderating influences of marital status and age.
Journal Name
Research on Aging
Journal Volume
39
Issue Number
6
Page Numbers
719-740
DOI
10.1177/0164027516681050
Summary
Providing care to a family member with health conditions may lead to stress and re-adjustment of daily time use. To examine caregivers' daily time use and stress exposure, a sample of 162 caregivers of children with developmental disabilities, spouses with health conditions, or parents with health conditions participated in the study. Results revealed that the three types of caregivers had similar patterns of time use, and caregivers of children with developmental disabilities reported more stress than the other two types of caregivers.
Key Findings
The three types of caregivers spent similar amount of time sleeping, watching television, and engaging in physical activities and household chores.
Compared to other types of caregivers, unmarried caregivers of children with developmental disabilities spent the most amount time on daily leisure activities but reported the highest levels of stress.
Older caregivers spent more time on leisure activities than younger caregivers.
Implications for Military Professionals
Participate in professional training to learn how to improve the well-being of Service members and military spouses who need to take care of a family member
Help caregivers within military families learn coping skills to better manage stress associated with taking care of a family member
Implications for Program Leaders
Offer support groups for Service members and military spouses who take care of family members with health conditions
Develop classes and workshops for caregivers on methods of decreasing daily stress
Implications for Policy Makers
Encourage training for professionals who work with caregivers in military families on how to lower caregivers' daily stress and increase the overall family well-being
Support the development of programs that promote mental health of caregivers in military families
Methods
The study was part of the second wave of the National Survey of Midlife in the United States; data were collected between 2004 and 2006.
Participants completed questionnaires. In addition, they also completed the Daily Diary Study which consisted of eight 15-20 minutes phone interviews over eight evenings regarding their daily time use and stressors.
Data were analyzed to examine the effects of caregiver types, marital status, and age on caregivers' daily experiences.
Participants
Participants were 23 caregivers of a son or daughter with developmental disabilities, 93 caregivers of a parent with health conditions, and 46 caregivers of a spouse with health conditions.
The average ages of the caregivers of children, parent, and spouses were 55.91 years (SD = 14.30, 26% male, 74% married), 53.20 years (SD = 8.62, 29% male, 58% married), and 67.89 years (SD = 9.02, 30% male, 80% married).
The race/ethnicity of participants was not reported.
Limitations
Dividing participants into "married" and "unmarried" subgroups did not take the complexity of relationships into consideration, as nine unmarried participants reported taking care of their former spouses, therefore the nine participants may have different behaviors patterns from other single participants.
Only self-report data from caregivers were used in the study, therefore the results were subjective and may not fully represent the real caregiving process.
The study did not take the severity of health conditions into consideration, therefore it is unclear whether the caregiving experiences differed because of severity level differences of health conditions.
Avenues for Future Research
Include responses from different sources (e.g., healthcare providers, care recipients, other family members) in order to get a comprehensive assessment of caregiving process
Recruit participants from diverse cultural backgrounds to examine the potential cultural differences in caregiving
Investigate how severity of health conditions influences caregivers' daily experiences
Focus
Civilian
Population Focus
Abstract
Guided by the life-course perspective, this study contributes to the family caregiving, aging, and disability literature by examining the daily experiences of three types of family caregivers in midlife and late adulthood. A sample of 162 caregivers from the National Survey of Midlife in the United States study completed interviews, questionnaires, and a Daily Diary Study. Multilevel models showed the patterns of daily time use did not differ by caregiver types. Caregivers of sons/daughters with developmental disabilities (DD) experienced more daily
stressors than caregivers of parents with health conditions (HC) and caregivers of spouses with HC. Unmarried caregivers of sons/daughters with DD reported spending more time on daily leisure activities and exhibited greater daily stressor exposure than other family caregivers. Age did not moderate the associations between caregiver types and daily experiences. Findings highlight the important
consideration of the caregivers’ characteristics to better determine the quality of their daily experiences in midlife and late adulthood.
stressors than caregivers of parents with health conditions (HC) and caregivers of spouses with HC. Unmarried caregivers of sons/daughters with DD reported spending more time on daily leisure activities and exhibited greater daily stressor exposure than other family caregivers. Age did not moderate the associations between caregiver types and daily experiences. Findings highlight the important
consideration of the caregivers’ characteristics to better determine the quality of their daily experiences in midlife and late adulthood.
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