How is an informal caregiver’s psychological distress associated with prolonged caregiving? Evidence from a six-wave panel survey in Japan

Oshio, Takashi

doi:10.1007/s11136-015-1041-4

Cited by 28 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…A K6 cut-off point of 13 was established to operationalize the definition of “serious mental distress.” Moderate mental distress was defined as 5 ≤ K6 < 13 13. However, as Oshio [20] argued, because the results were not free from potential biases due to their self-reported nature, I created a dichotomous variable of serious mental illness as well as an ordinal variable (serious = 2, moderate = 1, otherwise = 0).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving

Kumagai

2017

Health Econ Rev

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Although high-intensity caregiving has been found to be associated with a greater prevalence of mental health problems, little is known about the specifics of this relationship. This study clarified the burden of informal caregivers quantitatively and provided policy implications for long-term care policies in countries with aging populations. Using data collected from a nationwide five-wave panel survey in Japan, I examined two causal relationships: (1) high-intensity caregiving and mental health of informal caregivers, and (2) high-intensity caregiving and continuation of caregiving. Considering the heterogeneity in high-intensity caregiving among informal caregivers, control function model which allows for heterogeneous treatment effects was used.This study uncovered three major findings. First, hours of caregiving was found to influence the continuation of high-intensity caregiving among non-working informal caregivers and irregular employees. Specifically, caregivers who experienced high-intensity caregiving (20–40 h) tended to continue with it to a greater degree than did caregivers who experienced ultra-high-intensity caregiving (40 h or more). Second, high-intensity caregiving was associated with worse mental health among non-working caregivers, but did not have any effect on the mental health of irregular employees. The control function model revealed that caregivers engaging in high-intensity caregiving who were moderately mentally healthy in the past tended to have serious mental illness currently. Third, non-working caregivers did not tend to continue high-intensity caregiving for more than three years, regardless of co-residential caregiving. This is because current high-intensity caregiving was not associated with the continuation of caregiving when I included high-intensity caregiving provided during the previous period in the regression. Overall, I noted distinct impacts of high-intensity caregiving on the mental health of informal caregivers and that such caregiving is persistent among non-working caregivers who experienced it for at least a year. Supporting non-working intensive caregivers as a public health issue should be considered a priority.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving

Kumagai

2017

Health Econ Rev

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“…For longitudinal analyses, we employed linear mixed-effects models, which can capture both between-individual and within-individual variations [1, 2, 15, 28]. Mixed-effects models are analogous to multilevel models, which assume that observations at each wave are nested within an individual.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Several studies suggest that prolonged caregiving causes mental health deterioration [1, 2], while others support an ‘adaptation’ view whereby caregivers are able to adapt to care-related stresses over time even if they are strongly affected by caregiving commencement [12, 13]. Additionally, several factors, such as hours providing care and relationship with the care recipient, confounds caregivers’ mental health trajectories [14, 15]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How do social activities mitigate informal caregivers’ psychological distress? Evidence from a nine-year panel survey in Japan

Oshio

Kan

2016

Health Qual Life Outcomes

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BackgroundIt is well known that informal caregiving negatively affects caregivers’ mental health, while social activities improve mental health outcomes among middle-aged and elderly individuals. The goal of the present study was to examine how participation in social activities affected the trajectory of an informal caregiver’s psychological distress.MethodsWe used the data from a nationwide nine-wave panel survey of the middle-aged individuals (aged 50–59 years at baseline) in Japan conducted in 2005–13 (N = 24,193 individuals;12,352 women and 11,841 men), mainly focusing on the respondents beginning to provide informal caregiving during the survey period. We employed linear mixed-effects models to explain how the trajectory of psychological distress, measured by Kessler 6 (K6) scores, was associated with caregiving commencement and duration, as well as social activity participation.ResultsParticipation in social activities was associated with mitigated K6 scores at caregiving commencement by 66.2 and 58.2 % for women and men, respectively. After caregiving started, participation in social activities reduced the average rise in K6 scores, per year, by 65.6 and 89.6 % for women and men, respectively. We observed similar results when focusing on participation before caregiving commencement to avoid endogeneity problems.ConclusionResults suggest that participation in social activities can alleviate caregivers’ psychological distress. Policy measures to support social activities are recommended for the health and well-being of current and potential caregivers.

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“…First, in the case of Japan, while there have been a number of empirical studies that look at the effect of informal elderly care on, among others, caregivers' mental health and psychological well-being (e.g., Kumamoto, Arai and Zarit, 2006;Oshio 2014Oshio , 2015Sugihara et al 2004) and labor force participation (e.g., Kan and Kajitani, 2014;Sakai and Sato, 2007;Shimizutani, Suzuki and Noguchi, 2008;Sugawara and Nakamura, 2014), there has not been any previous work that analyzes the effect of providing elderly care on caregivers'…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan

Niimi

2016

Rev Econ Household

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This paper examines the impact of providing informal care to elderly parents on caregivers' subjective well-being using unique data from the "Preference Parameters Study" of Osaka University, a nationally representative survey conducted in Japan. The estimation results indicate heterogeneous effects: while informal elderly care does not have a significant impact on the happiness level of married caregivers regardless of whether they take care of their own parents or parents-in law and whether or not they reside with them, it has a negative and significant impact on the happiness level of unmarried caregivers who take care of their parents outside their home. These findings shed light on the important role that formal care services could play in reducing the burden on caregivers, particularly unmarried caregivers who presumably receive less support from family members.JEL codes: D10, I18, I31, J14

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How is an informal caregiver’s psychological distress associated with prolonged caregiving? Evidence from a six-wave panel survey in Japan

Abstract: Results revealed a gender-asymmetric, dynamic association between informal care provision and caregivers' psychological distress. Additional policy measures targeted at caregivers deeply involved in in-house care are needed to reduce their distress.

Cited by 28 publications

References 35 publications

Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving

Distinct impacts of high intensity caregiving on caregivers’ mental health and continuation of caregiving

How do social activities mitigate informal caregivers’ psychological distress? Evidence from a nine-year panel survey in Japan

The “Costs” of informal care: an analysis of the impact of elderly care on caregivers’ subjective well-being in Japan

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