How Are Spousal Carers' Health and Self-Perceptions of Ageing Reshaped in Caregiving Situations? The Mediating Role of Psychological Resources.

BACKGROUND: Caregiving has a multitude of impacts across well-being domains. Understanding these diverse effects is crucial for tailoring effective interventions and policies that reflect the complexity of caregiving and minimize possible negative effects. While the relationships between family carers' perceived stress and health status have been well identified, there has been limited attention to its relationship with self-perceptions of aging (SPA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the pathways through which perceived stress wears down psychological resources, subsequently affecting health and SPA among spousal carers.

METHODS: The 2018 Health and Retirement Study data was used, with a sample of spousal carers (n = 382). A structural equation modeling (SEM) analysis was used to examine the direct and indirect relationships among perceived stress, psychological resources, health, and SPA.

RESULTS: The findings of this study indicated that perceived stress is directly related to health and SPA among spousal carers. Another finding in this study revealed that perceived stress was related to health and SPA through psychological resources. Specifically, high perceived stress depletes psychological resources, which in turn leads to diminished health and SPA among spousal carers.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings highlight that health and SPA are directly affected by perceived stress and are also shaped by spousal carers' psychological resources. It underscores the implications for intervention programmes and social support aimed at assisting spousal carers in navigating their situation in a healthy manner.