Female Incest Survivors:

This exploratory study of adult female incest survivors examined their attitudes and practices regarding caregiving for their aging parents. In-depth interviews with 14 women revealed considerable conflict between internalized societal expectations about eldercare and the recovery process from childhood incest. The analysis identified five "caregiving avoidance" strategies the women used to balance the opposing needs of their parents and their own recovery process: Determined Avoidance; Remote Caregiving; Restrained Support; No Touch Caregiving; and Disengaged Caregiving. The data suggest that viewing the family system from a historical perspective allows professionals to better understand daughters' reluctance to provide eldercare.     

Adult Daughters and Mothers:

Quantitative research approaches have dominated the literature on factors contributine to careeiver stress. This aualitative study examined those dynami& of theidult daughter/mdther relationship which may contribute to the high stress levels reported by middle-aged female caregivers. In all 95 women participated in face-to-face individual, structured interviews. Trends in the data indicate that the more peerlike the motherldaughter relationship at the time of the caregiving experience, the less stress the adult daughter experiences as a caregiver. Implications for further research and practice are provided.     

Time-budget methodology for research on aging

Several aspects of time-budget methodology that are relevant to research on the activities of daily living by the aged are described. Most studies on the well-being of the elderly utilize data based on the number of activities, but the duration of the activities are not considered. This paper provides an overview of some of the salient research on time use studies and the elderly.     

Through gendered lens:explaining Chinese caregivers' task performance and care reward

The Chinese cultural norm of xiao, or filial piety, has long been held responsible for the practice of familial caregiving for older parents. Yet few explore the gendered nature of such a cultural practice in the current changing economic dynamics. Using data collected in 1997-1999 from 110 Chinese caregivers who were caring for physically dependent elder parents, this researcher explores the influence of changing economic conditions and Chinese cultural values in caregiver task performance and reward. Findings suggest that Chinese caregiving is highly gendered: Women are more likely to be unemployed and provide more personal care than men; sons are not more likely than daughters to provide financial assistance for parents. Chinese cultural values are playing an important role sanctioning caregiver task performance. Caregivers who believed in patrilocal norms provided more financial assistance; caregivers who reported higher social pressure provided more personal care. While the caregivers' report of social pressure is positively related to the caregivers' performance in personal care tasks, it is negatively related to caregiver reward. The author further explores the gendered implications for the changing economy and culture in China.     

"My mind's made up": assumptions and decision-making in accounts of caregiving women

In this qualitative study, rural women caregivers for elderly relatives or friends were interviewed about their decision-making. Women deliberating decisions differed from women implementing decisions in how they perceived their caregiving tasks and in their experience of stress. The difference in deliberative and implemental accounts suggests that mindset is a mediating factor for the women in the present study. Women in the process of implementing decisions regarding caregiving described their experiences in a more positive light and reported less stress. Deliberating decisions regarding caregiving, however, was likely to color the experience of caregiving, leaving the caregiver feeling vulnerable, doubtful about herself, and more stressed.     

Daughters-in-Law as Caregivers: How and Why Do They Come to Care?

ABSTRACT

This exploratory qualitative study examines the family dynamics and socio-structural factors which explain how and why some women become caregivers to in-laws. As well, it explores prevailing attitudes about care by in-laws. Material is drawn retrospectively from three previous studies of caregivers in Montreal, Quebec, including 10 semi-structured interviews with daughters-in-law and 72 interviews with spousal and child caregivers. An exploratory framework of the factors which are determinant in becoming a daughter-in-law caregiver is proposed which includes such elements as: social and cultural norms regarding family responsibility for eldercare; social and cultural norms regarding the place and the rights of the elderly; rules of family relations, couple dynamics, gender dynamics and family availability.     

Allocation of Eldercare Responsibilities Between Children and the Government in China: Does the Sense of Injustice Matter?

China’s large aging population poses grim challenges to eldercare provision. Against the background of withering traditional kinship-based eldercare and increasing significance of government-sponsored support programs, this study draws on data from the 2013 Chinese General Social Survey to investigate not only the correlation between the sense of social injustice and the preference of allocating eldercare responsibilities between public and private agents, but also how this correlation varies between urban and rural regions. We find that perceived social injustice is significantly correlated with the odds of designating the government, instead of family members, to shoulder eldercare responsibilities. Further mediation analysis suggests that this correlation is mediated through concerns about eldercare. On average, the link between perceived social injustice and preference of eldercare duty allocation is weaker in rural than in urban China. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

     

Caring for a Memory-Impaired Spouse:

Since caregiving is often viewed as an extension of the female's traditional role of caring, it could easily be assumed that women would have the advantage in the role of primary caregiver to an impaired partner. Research however does not support this. Rather, studies have found that women, and particularly wives, who are caring for a memory impaired relative have repeatedly identified greater distress in the caregiving role than their male counterparts. Unfortunately, to date, the differential reactions of women are poorly understood. This limits effective intervention. The purpose of this article then, is to begin to develop a framework for conceptualizing the gendered impact of caring for a memory-impaired partner in order to better understand women's, and particularly wives', reaction. Specifically, using a relational perspective the experience of living with a memory impaired husband will be explored.     

Impact of caregiver-receiver relationship quality on burden and satisfaction

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through an interview process, both the burden and satisfaction of the caregiving relationship between female primary caregivers and female care-receivers living in the same home. The ten cases were families involved in a caregiver/care-receiver shared-residence situation of at least one year's duration. The primary method of data collection was semi-structured interviews. The results of the qualitative approach called for a reversal of perspective. The intent was to examine how burden and satisfaction impacted the caregiver-receiver relationship quality. However, it was the quality of the relationship between the caregiver and care-receiver which distinguished low burden and high satisfaction.     

Impact of Caregiver-Receiver Relationship Quality on Burden and Satisfaction

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through an interview process, both the burden and satisfaction of the caregiving relationship between female primary caregivers and female care-receivers living in the same home. The ten cases were families involved in a caregiver/care-receiver shared-residence situation of at least one year's duration. The primary method of data collection was semi-structured interviews.

The results of the qualitative approach called for a reversal of perspective. The intent was to examine how burden and satisfaction impacted the caregiver-receiver relationship quality. However, it was the quality of the relationship between the caregiver and care-receiver which distinguished low burden and high satisfaction.     

Family Instability and Early Initiation of Sexual Activity in Western Kenya

Epidemiological, economic, and social forces have produced high levels of volatility in family and household structure for young people growing up in sub-Saharan Africa in recent decades. However, scholarship on the family to date has not examined the influence of this family instability on young people’s well-being. The current study employs unique life history calendar data from Western Kenya to investigate the relationship between instability in caregiving and early initiation of sexual activity. It draws on a body of work on parental union instability in the United States, and examines new dimensions of family change. Analyses reveal a positive association between transitions in primary caregiver and the likelihood of early sexual debut that is rapidly manifested following caregiver change and persists for a short period. The association is strongest at early ages, and there is a cumulative effect of multiple caregiver changes. The results highlight the importance of studying family stability in sub-Saharan Africa, as distinct from family structure, and for attention to dimensions such as age and recency.     

Grandparenting and Cognitive Functioning in China

Caring for grandchildren provides grandparents an opportunity to sustain an active lifestyle and remain socially engaged in older age. Studies have examined the association between providing care to grandchildren and grandparents’ cognitive function. However, these studies had several limitations and yielded mixed findings. Using data from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study, this study examined the longitudinal association between caregiving and cognitive functioning in grandparents aged 50–75 years. Grandparents’ caregiving status and cognitive functioning were assessed in 2011, 2013, and 2015. Random-effects and fixed-effects regression models were estimated and compared. The full sample (20,000?+?person-year observations) was divided into four subgroups to examine gender and rural–urban variations. Being a part-time noncoresident caregiver was associated with higher scores on episodic memory for grandfathers but not for grandmothers. Compared with their noncaregiving counterparts, rural part-time multigenerational caregiving grandmothers had significantly better mental intactness and global cognitive functioning, while rural full-time noncoresident caregiving grandmothers had significantly better episodic memory. Caregiving status was not associated with any cognitive measure among urban grandmothers. Taken together, these findings suggest that Chinese grandparents enjoy cognitive benefits from providing casual or intensive care to grandchildren, but these benefits vary substantially by gender and rural–urban status.

     

“The Luggage that isn’t Theirs is Too Heavy…”: Understandings of Orphan Disadvantage in Lesotho

In Southern Africa, high adult HIV prevalence has fueled concern about the welfare of children losing parents to the epidemic. A growing body of evidence indicates that parental, particularly maternal, death is negatively associated with child outcomes. However, a better understanding of the mechanisms is needed. In addition, the way orphan disadvantage and the mechanisms giving rise to it are understood on the ground is essential for the successful translation of research into policies and programs. This study employs data from 89 in-depth interviews with caregivers and key informants in Lesotho, a setting where approximately one-quarter of adults is infected with HIV, to elaborate understandings of orphan disadvantage. Our analysis focuses on two questions: (i) Do local actors perceive orphans to be disadvantaged compared to non-orphans, and if so, in what ways; and (ii) How do they explain orphans’ differential disadvantage? Analyses suggest that orphans were widely perceived to be disadvantaged; respondents described this disadvantage in material as well as affective domains. Thematic analyses reveal five broad categories of explanation: poverty, love and kin connection, caregiver character, perceptions of orphans, and community norms related to orphan care. These results underscore the need for research and policy to address (i) multiple types of disadvantage, including deficits in kindness and attention; and (ii) the social embeddedness of disadvantage, recognizing that poverty, kinship, and community interact with individual attributes to shape caregiving relationships and child experiences. The findings suggest limited success for programs and policies that do not address the emotional needs of children, or that focus on child or caregiver support to the exclusion of community outreach.     

A feminist model of family care: practice and policy directions

Using a feminist perspective, this article examines women's experiences in caring for older family members with chronic illnesses or disabilities. Central to this analysis are the concepts of the social construction of gender-based inequities in caring, the interconnections between generations of women as givers and receivers of care, and variations in family care by gender, race, ethnicity, social class and sexual orientation. The authors critique current practice interventions and policies and purpose models for the elimination of gender-based inequities in caregiving and the provision of caregiver choice and empowerment for women and men, including feminist models of practice with women caregivers and economic and long-term care supports.     

Dementia spousal caregivers and past transgressions: Measuring and understanding forgiveness experiences

ABSTRACT

The transition from “wife” to “caregiver” for a cognitively impaired husband can be an overwhelming experience. Communication patterns change and small conflicts can grow, at times bringing angry feelings and new burdens. Engagement with forgiveness processes may benefit wives by lowering resentment over past tensions, restoring trust, and enhancing the overall caregiving experience. This study examined the utility of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory (EFI) within a sample of caregiving wives. Our intent was to better understand this population’s experience with forgiveness when other contextual factors were likely to influence this process. Forgiveness scores on the EFI were positively related to the cognitive status of the care recipient, a particularly important finding for clinical intervention, and inversely related to marital distress and state anxiety.     

Women as Family Caregivers:

Informal elder care is typically a women's issue. Elder-care problems frequently lead to burnout because of increasing longevity, advanced medical technology, changes in family life, gender role expectations and nature of formal caregiving services available (difficult to access, limited and expensive). Ultimately caregiver burnout is a result of culture lag, a lack of fit between changes in the material culture and conditions of life, and the nonmaterial aspects of culture (values, norms, etc.). To assist family caregivers both govemment and business must change family care and health care policies.     

Historical changes in the household division of labor

A number of studies published in the 1970s asserted that the amount of time women spend doing housework shows no historical decline. This article draws on evidence from time-budget surveys—three from the United States (1965, 1975, and 1985) and three from the United Kingdom (1961, 1974, and 1984)—to investigate the evolution of housework time for men and women over the last three decades. Clearly much other than housework has changed over this period. More women have paid jobs, more men are unemployed, and families have gotten smaller on average. Even having controlled for such sociodemographic changes, we conclude that in the two countries, women in the 1980s do substantially less housework than those in equivalent circumstances in the 1960s, and that men do a little more than they did (although still much less than women). These changes correspond closely to developments in four other countries (Canada, Holland, Denmark, and Norway) for which historical time-budget evidence is available.     

Grandmothers Offering Regular Auxiliary Care for Their Grandchildren: An Expression of Generativity in Later Life?

The study explores the meaning that grandmothers who offer regular childcare attach to that experience and the extent to which the notion of generativity might explain the meaning of the experience of caring for a grandchild. Twenty-four Spanish grandmothers aged 60 and over who provided at least 12 hours a week of childcare were interviewed. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and qualitatively analyzed. The results suggest that grandmothers regard their childcare input as being part of their parental duty of helping in times of need. A range of consequences of caregiving were mentioned, generally positive and satisfactory. Our participants apparently began their caregiving task as an expression of parental generativity, although rewards associated with childcare are linked to grandparental generativity.     

Grandparents providing care for grandchildren and employment status of grandparents in South Korea

This study examines the association between providing care for grandchildren and the economic status of grandparents, focusing on the employment status. This study asks two questions. First, is providing care for grandchildren related to Korean grandparents’ employment status? Second, are the intensities of providing care for grandchildren related to grandparents’ employment status? In examining these research questions, this study focuses on gender and caregiving intensity. The findings suggest that providing care for grandchildren was associated with Korean grandmothers’ employment status. In addition, there are different relationships between providing care for grandchildren and grandparents’ employment status according to the caregiving intensities.     

The Gendered Division of Labor in Parental Caretaking:

Public ideology dictates that families take responsibility for the care of their frail and vulnerable members. Women more than men are the unpaid, informal caregivers of family members. This gendered division of labor is examined by using the U.S. Survey of Income and Program Participation. Differences between metropolitan and nonmetropolitan sons' and daughters' parental caregiving activities are examined in order to contrast areas having more traditional, conventional or conservative values with those adopting more feminist values. Results show that in addition to daughters performing the vast majority of tasks, there is a difference between the types of care provided by metropolitan and nonmetropolitan daughters. Nonmetropolitan daughters tend to perform more caregiving tasks considered to be traditional "women's work" while metropolitan daughters perform significantly more tasks considered to be nontraditional for women. The fmdings suggest that providing care is due more to socialization to gender roles than to women's supposed natural or biological tendencies for "nurturing."