Caregiver Stress and Mental Health: Impact of Caregiving Relationship and Gender

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: This study compared the stress and mental health implications of caregiving to a spouse, children, siblings, other family members, friends, and others among middle-aged and older male and female caregivers. DESIGN AND METHODS: Multivariate regression analyses were conducted using 2007 Canadian General Social Survey data collected on a subsample of caregivers aged 45 and older. RESULTS: Our analyses revealed that for women, caring for a spouse or children was more stressful and detrimental to mental health than caring for parents or others. Similarly, for men, caring for a spouse and for children was more stressful than caring for others but did not adversely affect overall mental health. IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest that spousal and child caregiving tend to be more rather than less stressful and detrimental to middle-aged and older caregivers' mental health than is caregiving to most others but that gender differences need to be considered.