Are We All the Same When Faced with an Ill Relative? A Person-Oriented Approach to Caring Activities and Mental Health in Emerging Adult Students

Basilie Chevrier, Aurélie Untas and Géraldine Dorard
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Basilie Chevrier: Aix-Marseille Univ., PSYCLE, F-13628 Aix-en-Provence, France
Aurélie Untas: Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, F-92100 Boulogne, France
Géraldine Dorard: Université Paris Cité, Laboratoire de Psychopathologie et Processus de Santé, F-92100 Boulogne, France

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 13, 1-18

Abstract: Dealing with the illness/disability of a relative is part of everyday life for many students, who may have to take on caring responsibilities. Fulfilling a caring role during emerging adulthood has been associated with poorer mental health. This study adopts a person-oriented approach in exploring the caring experience in relation to mental health. The sample comprised 3273 students ( M age = 20.19 years, SD age = 1.89; 80.35% female) who answered a series of questionnaires. A cluster analysis identified six patterns of caregiving activities in terms of their nature and extent: few caring activities; household chores; household and financial/practical help; emotional care; sibling care; and many caring activities with emotional and personal care. A series of analyses showed that caring activities differed according to age, gender, living arrangements, financial status, the ill/disabled relative being supported, and the relative’s type of illness/disability. A multivariate analysis of covariance showed that emerging adult students with patterns featuring household chores had better mental health than those with few caring activities. Overall, our findings indicate that having an ill/disabled relative can lead an individual to take on a wide range of caring responsibilities that may have varying consequences for emerging adult students’ mental health.

Keywords: young adult carers; emerging adulthood; higher education; psychological distress; subjective well-being (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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