Caregiving across the lifespan: examining associations between loneliness and caregiver support services across life-course positions.

OBJECTIVES

This study examined whether formal caregiving support utilization (caregiver respite and support groups) varies across the life course and whether associations between support use and caregiver loneliness differ by age.

METHODS

Data were drawn from four pooled waves (2011, 2015, 2017, and 2021) of the National Study of Caregiving linked to the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 5,530 caregiver observations). Logistic regression models examined factors associated with formal support utilization, and ordinal logistic regression models assessed associations with general and social loneliness, including age-by-support interactions and caregiver and care recipient characteristics.

RESULTS

Older caregivers were more likely than mid- and late-adult caregivers to use respite, whereas support group participation did not differ by age. Younger and midlife caregivers reported greater loneliness than older caregivers. Associations between formal support and loneliness varied across the life course. Respite use was associated with lower general loneliness among mid-adult caregivers, while support group participation was associated with lower social loneliness among young adult caregivers.

CONCLUSION

Formal caregiving supports are not uniformly associated with loneliness. Their associations with loneliness differ according to caregivers' life-course position and the dimension of loneliness examined, highlighting the need for age-sensitive approaches to caregiver support.