Reconciling work and family caregiving among adult-child family caregivers of older people with dementia: effects on role strain and depressive symptoms: Reconciliation of work and family caregiving
Abstract
AIMS: This paper is a report of a study that examined the effects of work demands, including employment status, work inflexibility and difficulty reconciling work and family caregiving, on role strain and depressive symptoms of adult-child family caregivers of older people with dementia. BACKGROUND: Family caregivers also employed for pay are known to be affected by work demands, i.e. excessive workload and time pressures. However, few studies have shown how these work demands and reconciliation between work and family caregiving influence caregivers' role strain and depressive symptoms. METHOD: For this cross-sectional study, secondary data were analysed for 119 adult-child family caregivers of older people with dementia in Taiwan using hierarchical multiple regression. RESULTS: After adjusting for demographic characteristics, resources and role demands overload, family caregivers with full-time jobs (β=0.25, P<0.01) and more difficulty reconciling work and caregiving roles (β=0.36, P<0.01) reported significantly more role strain than family caregivers working part-time or unemployed. Family caregivers with more work inflexibility reported more depressive symptoms (β=0.29, P<0.05). CONCLUSION: Work demands affected family caregivers' role strain and depressive symptoms. Working full-time and having more difficulty reconciling work and caregiving roles predicted role strain; work inflexibility predicted depressive symptoms. These results can help clinicians identify high-risk groups for role strain and depression. Nurses need to assess family caregivers for work flexibility when screening for high-risk groups and encourage them to reconcile working with family-care responsibilities to reduce role strain.
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The dual role strain hypothesis posits that caregivers face stress overload and difficulties in handling the obligations of their paid jobs on top of providing care for their ill family members.
“the finding of higher levels of depressive symptoms in full-time employed caregivers compared with retired caregivers could be explained by the dual role strain hypothesis, which posits that caregivers face stress overload and difficulties in handling the obligations of their paid jobs in the labour force on top of providing care for their ill family members.”
From Relationship of Psychological Flexibility and Mindfulness to Caregiver Burden, and Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms in Caregivers of People with Dementia (2023) · cites this paper as [142]
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- Authors
- Wang, Y.-N., Shyu, Y.-I. L., Chen, M.-C., & Yang, P.-S.
- Affiliations
- Chang Gung University (TW)
- National Taiwan University (TW)
- Venue
- Journal of Advanced Nursing
- Publisher
- Wiley
- Published
- 2010-11-16
- Volume
- 67
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 829-840
- ISSN
- 0309-2402 (ISSN-L)
- OpenAlex
- W1546565995
- Cited by
- 115
- References
- 48
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2025: 6 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 11 · 2021: 17 · 2020: 8 · 2019: 10 · 2018: 11 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 4 · 2014: 8 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 11.36
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Advanced Nursing (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Work-Family Balance Challenges
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › Pharmacy › Nursing care and research
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
- Keywords
- dementia, older adults, role strain, depressive symptoms, job demands, employment status, caregiver burden
- MeSH terms
- Adolescent, Adult, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Child, Conflict, Psychological, Cross-Sectional Studies, Dementia, Depression, Employment, Female, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Parents, Regression Analysis, Role, Stress, Psychological, Taiwan, Workload, Caregivers, Adult Children
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