How did the COVID-19 pandemic impact the wellbeing of family care-givers? A longitudinal study of older adults in Germany

被引:4
作者
Ehrlich, Ulrike [1 ]
Kelle, Nadiya [1 ]
Klaus, Daniela [1 ]
Mohring, Katja [2 ,3 ]
机构
[1] German Ctr Gerontol DZA, Berlin, Germany
[2] Univ Mannheim, Dept Social Sci, Mannheim, Germany
[3] Univ Mannheim, Mannheim Ctr European Social Res MZES, Mannheim, Germany
关键词
COVID-19; mental health; care-giving; loneliness; life satisfaction; depressive symptoms; LONELINESS; CARE;
D O I
10.1017/S0144686X22000873
中图分类号
R4 [临床医学]; R592 [老年病学];
学科分类号
1002 ; 100203 ; 100602 ;
摘要
Previous research was not able to identify an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on family care-givers' wellbeing due to cross-sectional data structures, care-giver-specific samples or non-probability sampling designs. In this article, by drawing on longitudinal data from a random and representative sample of the German population aged 40 and older, we overcome methodological limitations of previous research. We examine the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the wellbeing (life satisfaction, depressive symptoms, loneliness) of different groups of family care-givers (new care-givers, continuous care-givers, past care-givers) and non-care-givers in Germany. We derived a balanced sample of n = 3,875 individuals aged 43-97 (mean = 66.5 years, standard deviation = 10.2 years) from the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) to explore changes in wellbeing between 2017 (pre-pandemic) and June/July 2020 (pandemic). Using a first-difference approach, we found that the pandemic has a negative impact on both non-care-givers' and family care-givers' wellbeing, with increased levels of depressive symptoms and loneliness compared to pre-pandemic times. Changes in depressive symptoms of family care-givers did not significantly deviate from non-care-givers. However, continuous care-givers showed more pronounced increases in loneliness compared to non-care-givers. Our results suggest that family care-givers' wellbeing merits particular attention when considering the long-term consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals' wellbeing.
引用
收藏
页码:1533 / 1550
页数:18
相关论文
共 51 条
[1]  
Allison P., 2009, SAGE, DOI DOI 10.4135/9781412993869
[2]   COVID-19: how much unemployment was caused by the shutdown in Germany? [J].
Bauer, Anja ;
Weber, Enzo .
APPLIED ECONOMICS LETTERS, 2021, 28 (12) :1053-1058
[3]  
BMG, 2015, GES GEN
[4]   Do the Antecedents and Consequences of Loneliness Change From Middle Adulthood Into Old Age? [J].
Boeger, Anne ;
Huxhold, Oliver .
DEVELOPMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY, 2018, 54 (01) :181-197
[5]  
Brandt M, 2021, Z GERONTOL GERIATR, V54, P240, DOI 10.1007/s00391-021-01870-2
[6]  
Bruderl J., 2015, SAGE HDB REGRESSION, P327, DOI DOI 10.4135/9781446288146.N15
[7]   Informal caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic perceive additional burden: findings from an ad-hoc survey in Germany [J].
Budnick, Andrea ;
Hering, Christian ;
Eggert, Simon ;
Teubner, Christian ;
Suhr, Ralf ;
Kuhlmey, Adelheid ;
Gellert, Paul .
BMC HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, 2021, 21 (01)
[8]  
Bundesamt S., 2019, STAT JB 2019 KAP 4 G
[9]  
Bundesministerium fur Gesundheit (BMG), 2021, KURZZ
[10]  
Bundesministerium fur Gesundheit (BMG), 2021, TAG NACHTPFL