IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/eujoag/v21y2024i1d10.1007_s10433-024-00816-y.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Older caregivers’ depressive symptomatology over time: evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe

Author

Listed:
  • Marie Agapitos

    (Université du Québec à Montréal)

  • Graciela Muniz-Terrera

    (Ohio University (Heritage College of Osteopathic Medicine)
    University of Edinburgh (Edinburgh Dementia Prevention))

  • Annie Robitaille

    (Université du Québec à Montréal
    University of Ottawa (Interdisciplinary School of Health Sciences)
    Perley Health (Centre of Excellence in Frailty-Informed Care))

Abstract

The prevalence of informal caregiving is increasing as populations across the world age. Caregiving has been found to be associated with poor mental health outcomes including depressive symptoms. The purpose of this study is to examine the mean trajectory of depressive symptomatology in older caregivers in a large European sample over an eight-year period, the effects of time-varying and time-invariant covariates on this trajectory, and the mean trajectory of depressive symptomatology according to pattern of caregiving. The results suggest that depressive symptoms in the full sample of caregivers follow a nonlinear trajectory characterized by an initial decrease which decelerates over time. Caregiver status and depressive symptoms were significantly associated such that depressive symptoms increased as a function of caregiver status. The trajectory in caregivers who report intermittent or consecutive occasions of caregiving remained stable over time. Significant associations were found between sociodemographic, health and caregiving characteristics and the initial levels and rates of change of these trajectories. While these results point to the resilience of caregivers, they also highlight the factors that are related to caregivers’ adaptation over time. This can help in identifying individuals who may require greater supports and, in turn, ensuring that caregivers preserve their well-being.

Suggested Citation

  • Marie Agapitos & Graciela Muniz-Terrera & Annie Robitaille, 2024. "Older caregivers’ depressive symptomatology over time: evidence from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-024-00816-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s10433-024-00816-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10433-024-00816-y
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10433-024-00816-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jamila Bookwala, 2009. "The Impact of Parent Care on Marital Quality and Well-Being in Adult Daughters and Sons," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 64(3), pages 339-347.
    2. Melanie Wagner & Martina Brandt, 2018. "Long-term Care Provision and the Well-Being of Spousal Caregivers: An Analysis of 138 European Regions," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(4), pages 24-34.
    3. Martin Pinquart & Silvia Sörensen, 2006. "Gender Differences in Caregiver Stressors, Social Resources, and Health: An Updated Meta-Analysis," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(1), pages 33-45.
    4. Rafael del-Pino-Casado & Marta Rodríguez Cardosa & Catalina López-Martínez & Vasiliki Orgeta, 2019. "The association between subjective caregiver burden and depressive symptoms in carers of older relatives: A systematic review and meta-analysis," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 14(5), pages 1-16, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. 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.
    2. Miller, Ray & Sedai, Ashish Kumar, 2022. "Opportunity costs of unpaid caregiving: Evidence from panel time diaries," The Journal of the Economics of Ageing, Elsevier, vol. 22(C).
    3. Takashi Oshio & Kemmyo Sugiyama, 2022. "Social Participation as a Moderator for Caregivers’ Psychological Distress: a Dynamic Panel Data Model Analysis in Japan," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 1813-1829, June.
    4. Rong Fu & Dung Le & Yoko Ibuka, 2023. "The impact of contracting formal care benefits on caregivers�fwell-being: evidence from Japan," Keio-IES Discussion Paper Series 2023-005, Institute for Economics Studies, Keio University.
    5. Bauer, Jan Michael & Sousa-Poza, Alfonso, 2015. "Impacts of Informal Caregiving on Caregiver Employment, Health, and Family," IZA Discussion Papers 8851, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Gonçalves, Judite & von Hafe, Francisco & Filipe, Luís, 2021. "Formal home care use and spousal health outcomes," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    7. Uccheddu, Damiano & Gauthier, Anne H. & Steverink, Nardi & Emery, Tom, 2019. "The pains and reliefs of the transitions into and out of spousal caregiving. A cross-national comparison of the health consequences of caregiving by gender," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 240(C).
    8. Cinzia Di Novi & Rowena Jacobs & Matteo Migheli, 2013. "The quality of life of female informal caregivers: from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean Sea," Working Papers 084cherp, Centre for Health Economics, University of York.
    9. Marissa M Rurka & J Jill Suitor & Megan Gilligan & Robert T Frase & Zhen Cong, 2023. "How Do Own and Siblings’ Genders Shape Caregivers’ Risk of Perceiving Care-Related Criticism From Siblings?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 78(3), pages 520-531.
    10. Thomas Hansen & Marcela Petrová Kafková & Ruth Katz & Ariela Lowenstein & Sigal Naim & George Pavlidis & Feliciano Villar & Kieran Walsh & Marja Aartsen, 2021. "Exclusion from Social Relations in Later Life: Micro- and Macro-Level Patterns and Correlations in a European Perspective," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(23), pages 1-16, November.
    11. Marie Blaise & Laetitia Dillenseger, 2023. "Informal Caregivers and Life Satisfaction: Empirical Evidence from the Netherlands," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 24(6), pages 1883-1930, August.
    12. Wei Lin & Lung Chen & Tsui-Shan Li, 2013. "Adult Children’s Caregiver Burden and Depression: The Moderating Roles of Parent–Child Relationship Satisfaction and Feedback from Others," Journal of Happiness Studies, Springer, vol. 14(2), pages 673-687, April.
    13. Perla Werner & Aviad Tur-Sinai & Hanan AboJabel, 2021. "Examining Dementia Family Caregivers’ Forgone Care for General Practitioners and Medical Specialists during a COVID-19 Lockdown," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(7), pages 1-11, April.
    14. Cinzia Di Novi & Elenka Brenna, 2013. "Is caring for elderly parents detrimental for women�s mental health? The influence of the European North-South gradient," Working Papers 2013:23, Department of Economics, University of Venice "Ca' Foscari".
    15. Young Kyung Do & Edward C. Norton & Sally C. Stearns & Courtney Harold Van Houtven, 2015. "Informal Care and Caregiver's Health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(2), pages 224-237, February.
    16. repec:ctc:serie1:def4 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Bom, Judith & Stöckel, Jannis, 2021. "Is the grass greener on the other side? The health impact of providing informal care in the UK and the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 269(C).
    18. Karen Siedlecki & Timothy Salthouse & Shigehiro Oishi & Sheena Jeswani, 2014. "The Relationship Between Social Support and Subjective Well-Being Across Age," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 117(2), pages 561-576, June.
    19. Paul Glavin & Amanda Peters, 2015. "The Costs of Caring: Caregiver Strain and Work-Family Conflict Among Canadian Workers," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(1), pages 5-20, March.
    20. Chiu‐Yueh Hsiao, 2010. "Family demands, social support and caregiver burden in Taiwanese family caregivers living with mental illness: the role of family caregiver gender," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(23‐24), pages 3494-3503, December.
    21. Ángel L. Martín-Román & Alfonso Moral & Sara Pinillos-Franco, 2024. "Are women breaking the glass ceiling? A gendered analysis of the duration of sick leave in Spain," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 24(1), pages 107-134, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:eujoag:v:21:y:2024:i:1:d:10.1007_s10433-024-00816-y. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.