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Longitudinal Changes in the Well-Being of Japanese Caregivers: Variations Across Kin Relationships

¹ Social Activity and Care Research Group, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, Tokyo, Japan.
² Gerontology Program, Obirin University Graduate School, Tokyo, Japan.
³ Department of Social Welfare, Japan Women's University, Tokyo, Japan.
⁴ Section of Geriatrics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL.

Address correspondence to Yoko Sugihara, PhD, Division of Human Sciences, Social Activity and Care Research Group, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology, 35-2 Sakae-cho, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-0015, Japan. E-mail: sugihara{at}tmig.or.jp

This study examined how the psychological well-being of Japanese caregivers changed over time; it also examined the variation across kin relationships with care recipients. Three interviews over the course of 30 months were conducted with a representative sample of community-dwelling caregivers of frail elderly persons living in a Tokyo suburb. Latent growth modeling demonstrated that mean levels of both depression and emotional exhaustion worsened over time. Change in emotional exhaustion over time showed significant individual variability, whereas change in depression showed little individual variability. Although wife caregivers tended to experience the worst trajectory of emotional exhaustion, daughters-in-law also showed a similar negative trend. The difference in individuals' well-being trajectories by kinship may be explained partly by differences in care recipients' disabilities.

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