Association of Caregiver Types With General and Health‐Related Indicators of Subjective Well‐Being in a Longitudinal Cohort of Middle‐Aged and Older Adults in China

Objectives With the increased demand for care services, understanding how the association between caregiving and subjective well‐being varies at different ages becomes a crucial policy concern. This study examined the longitudinal associations between informal caregiving (and different caregiver types) and selected subjective well‐being outcomes. Furthermore, gender and household wealth heterogeneity were explored. Methods Based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study data, we used growth curve models to examine how the association between informal caregiving and subjective well‐being varies across age. Results Overall, caregivers reported higher life satisfaction at age 60 compared to non‐caregivers, although the positive association between caregiving and life satisfaction becomes weaker and even turns negative as people age. In contrast, caregivers consistently had lower health‐related quality of life (HRQoL) than non‐caregivers. When examining different caregiving types, grandparent caregivers initially had higher life satisfaction at age 60 than non‐caregivers, but this advantage became less evident with age. Adult child caregivers generally showed higher life satisfaction than non‐caregivers, whereas spousal caregivers consistently reported lower life satisfaction. Regarding HRQoL, there were no significant differences between adult child caregivers, grandparent caregivers, and non‐caregivers, but spousal caregivers had significantly lower HRQoL than their non‐caregiving counterparts. Furthermore, the relationship between caregiving and subjective well‐being was influenced by both gender and household wealth. Conclusions The relationship between informal caregiving and subjective well‐being is dynamic, and different types of caregivers display distinct age‐related patterns. These findings can provide practical policy recommendations for policymakers to structure and improve sustainable informal care systems.