Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2018 Apr;30(4):641-664.
doi: 10.1177/0898264316687623. Epub 2017 Jan 16.

Informal Care Networks in the Context of Multimorbidity: Size, Composition, and Associations With Recipient Psychological Well-Being

Matthew A Andersson  1 , Joan K Monin  2
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Informal Care Networks in the Context of Multimorbidity: Size, Composition, and Associations With Recipient Psychological Well-Being

Matthew A Andersson et al. J Aging Health. 2018 Apr.

Abstract

Objective: We evaluate how the size and composition of care networks change with increasing morbidity count (i.e., multimorbidity) and how larger care networks relate to recipient psychological well-being.

Method: Using the National Health and Aging Trends study (NHATS; N = 7,026), we conduct multivariate regressions to analyze size and compositional differences in care networks by morbidity count and recipient gender, and to examine differences in recipient psychological well-being linked to care network size.

Results: Women report larger and more diverse care networks than men. These gender differences strengthen with increasing morbidity count. Larger care networks are associated with diminished psychological well-being among care recipients, especially as morbidity increases.

Discussion: These findings reveal how increasing morbidity translates differently to care network size and diversity for men and women. They also suggest that having multiple caregivers may undermine the psychological well-being of care recipients who face complex health challenges.

Keywords: caregiving; epidemiology; mental health; social networks.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Proposed Associations among Key Concepts in Study
Figure 2
Figure 2. Care Network Size by Respondent Morbidity Count and Gender (2011 NHATS)
Note. 95% confidence bands are shown in gray.
Figure 3
Figure 3. Depressive and Anxiety Symptoms by Size of Caregiver Network and Respondent Morbidity Count (2011 NHATS)
Note. 95% confidence bands are shown in gray.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Aneshensel CA, Pearlin LI, Mullan JT, Zarit SH, Whitlatch CJ. Profiles in caregiving: The unexpected career. New York: Academic Press; 1995.
    1. Antonucci TC, Akiyama H. Convoys of social relations: Family and friendships within a life span context. In: Blieszner R, Bedford VH, editors. Handbook of Aging and the Family. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press; 1995. pp. 355–371.
    1. Bayliss EA, Ellis JL, Steiner JF. Barriers to self-management and quality-of-life outcomes in seniors with multimorbidities. Annals of Family Medicine. 2007;5:395–402. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Boult C, Wieland GD. Comprehensive primary care for older patients with multiple chronic conditions. JAMA. 2010;304:1936–1943. - PubMed
    1. Carpenter N, Ducharme F. Care-giver network transformations: The need for an integrated perspective. Ageing and Society. 2003;23:507–525.

Publication types

LinkOut - more resources