Continuity and changes in three types of caregiving and the risk of depression in later life: a 2-year prospective study

Objective: previous studies have well documented the psychological consequences of family caregiving but less is known about the heterogeneity of older carers being affected during different temporal phases of caregiving over time. This study aimed to prospectively examine the impact of continuity and changes in grandchild care, parent care and spouse care on older carers' depressive symptoms 2 years later. Methods: the analytic sample contained 2,398 urban seniors who completed interviews for both the 2011 and 2013 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study. The generalized estimating equations approach estimated the longitudinal associations of caring transitions with depressive symptoms. Results: in comparison with non-carers, elders who continuously provided grandchild care, and those who stopped providing parent care reported significantly fewer depressive symptoms; those who entered into or exited from providing spousal care reported significantly more depressive symptoms. Conclusions: by separating the impact of caring transitions on subsequent depressive symptoms, our findings added evidence of the great diversity of caring experiences among older adults who provided care to grandchildren, parents or spouses. Our findings have implications for carer support programmes in targeting those older carers at higher risk of depression.