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.

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