Health Trajectories of Women in China: The Role of Parental Caregiving.

OBJECTIVES: Studies show that caregiving can have negative consequences on the psychological and physical health of its providers. However, few studies have examined the immediate and long-term impact of caregiving on health and none have considered these longitudinal associations among women in a predominately family-care society such as China. METHOD: Six waves of data from the Ever-Married Women Survey component of the China Health and Nutrition Survey (n = 6,178) are used for analysis. Multivariate latent growth models are used to examine trajectories of self-rated health associated with providing care to parents (parental caregiving) among young-adult and middle-aged women in China. RESULTS: Results show that women who are caregivers to their parents have consistently worse self-reported health than women who do not have caregiving responsibilities. We find that caregivers--especially those who provide high-intensity care--exhibit initially low levels of health, followed by a period of health improvement that is comparable to noncaregivers. However, this pattern of role adaptation in women is followed by a precipitous decline in self-rated health in later years. DISCUSSION: The findings demonstrate the subjective health consequences of caregiving for women in China and provide new evidence to support the life course processes of wear-and-tear and role adaptation.

Duke Scholars

Author Matthew E. Dupre Population Health Sciences