anxiety – particularly for women.
“The results of our analyses showed a decline in well-being in the years following the start of caregiving,” explains co-author Michael Krämer from the Department of Psychology at UZH. “These declines were consistent across different aspects of well-being – life satisfaction, emotional experiences, depression/anxiety, and loneliness – and were more pronounced and longer lasting for women than for men.”
The researchers also explored how time spent caregiving affected well-being. They found that the more time people spent on caregiving tasks, the more their well-being suffered, regardless of gender.
The study further examined factors like caregiving intensity, the relationship between caregivers and recipients, and full-time employment. Surprisingly, these factors had little influence on the overall decline in well-being, suggesting that caregivers face similar challenges across different contexts.
“While these findings highlight the stress caregiving can bring, individual experiences may differ,” says Krämer. “There are other aspects of psychological well-being, such as finding a sense of purpose, that we couldn’t assess with these data.” Some caregivers may even find meaning in their role.
Reference: Krämer, M. D., & Bleidorn, W. (2024). The Well-Being Costs of Informal Caregiving. Psychological Science, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241279203
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