Family functioning in an international sample of households reporting adult caregiving during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Abstract

Public Significance Statement Households with adults requiring caregiving have experienced greater disruption to family functioning than noncaregiving households during the COVID-19 pandemic. The intersection of pandemic and caregiving stress may impart psychological and health risks for caregivers likely to be felt for years to come. Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically altered the functioning of households. Because of the vulnerability of high-risk groups, such as older adults and people with compromised immune systems, households caring for these vulnerable adults may be facing elevated levels of caregiving-related stress and burden. The current study sought to examine the impact of the pandemic on conflict and cohesion in households with adults requiring caregiving versus noncaregiving households. Methods: Respondent demographic, household level, and family functioning data were collected anonymously from an international sample (N = 4,241). Responses were examined using descriptive and bivariate analyses. Results: Overall, respondents in caregiving households (n = 667) reported a significantly greater negative impact of social distancing on their family functioning, with greater increase in conflict than nonadult caregiving households (n = 3,574). Significantly more caregiving households also reported that someone had stopped working due to the pandemic. No differences were observed for cohesion between the two groups, with both reporting a little bit more cohesion when compared with the period before social distancing. Conclusions: Our findings add to a body of literature demonstrating that caregiving families experience greater disruption and strain during disaster situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research is needed to establish the causality of the collected proximal factors, such as job loss and education, with pandemic related family functioning among homes caring for adults, and examining the impact of contextual factors, such as level of caregiving need and caregiving support.