Views of aging and mental health - The role of informal care provision: Longitudinal findings of the health and retirement study in the US

TY - JOUR

T1 - Views of aging and mental health - The role of informal care provision: Longitudinal findings of the health and retirement study in the US

AU - Zwar, Larissa

AU - König, Hans-Helmut

AU - Hajek, André

N1 - Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.

PY - 2024/9/15

Y1 - 2024/9/15

N2 - BACKGROUND: Informal care is a common form of social support, which can vary greatly in its intensity. While views of aging have shown to be relevant to mental health before, we aim to analyze whether the association between views of aging and depressive symptoms is influenced by the provision of informal care and its intensity.METHODS: Data of six waves of the Health and Retirement Study in the United States was used. The sample includes up to 41,058 observations pooled over six waves of community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and attitudes towards own aging (ATOA) with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (higher score indicates positive attitudes); informal caregiving (no/yes) and caregiving intensity (moderate, intense) were surveyed. Adjusted fixed effects regression analysis with robust standard errors, and with caregiving as moderator variable were calculated.RESULTS: Informal caregiving did not interact with ATOA. However, transitioning into intense caregiving significantly moderated the association between ATOA and depressive symptoms. Lower depressive symptoms were associated with better ATOA and this association was significantly stronger in the intense caregiving condition than in the non-caregiving condition. No significant interaction effects were found between any form of caregiving and subjective age.LIMITATIONS: The possibility of reciprocal effects cannot be excluded.CONCLUSION: Internalized ageism and depressive symptoms are more strongly related among caregivers who provide intense care. Thus, interventions to reduce internalized ageism could be helpful in particular among this vulnerable group of informal caregivers.

AB - BACKGROUND: Informal care is a common form of social support, which can vary greatly in its intensity. While views of aging have shown to be relevant to mental health before, we aim to analyze whether the association between views of aging and depressive symptoms is influenced by the provision of informal care and its intensity.METHODS: Data of six waves of the Health and Retirement Study in the United States was used. The sample includes up to 41,058 observations pooled over six waves of community-dwelling adults aged ≥50 years. Depressive symptoms were measured with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD) and attitudes towards own aging (ATOA) with the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (higher score indicates positive attitudes); informal caregiving (no/yes) and caregiving intensity (moderate, intense) were surveyed. Adjusted fixed effects regression analysis with robust standard errors, and with caregiving as moderator variable were calculated.RESULTS: Informal caregiving did not interact with ATOA. However, transitioning into intense caregiving significantly moderated the association between ATOA and depressive symptoms. Lower depressive symptoms were associated with better ATOA and this association was significantly stronger in the intense caregiving condition than in the non-caregiving condition. No significant interaction effects were found between any form of caregiving and subjective age.LIMITATIONS: The possibility of reciprocal effects cannot be excluded.CONCLUSION: Internalized ageism and depressive symptoms are more strongly related among caregivers who provide intense care. Thus, interventions to reduce internalized ageism could be helpful in particular among this vulnerable group of informal caregivers.

U2 - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.06.055

DO - 10.1016/j.jad.2024.06.055

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 38901694

VL - 361

SP - 472

EP - 479

JO - J AFFECT DISORDERS

JF - J AFFECT DISORDERS

SN - 0165-0327

ER -