Does It Matter Who You Provide Care for? Mental Health and Life Satisfaction in Young Adult Carers Associated with Type of Relationship and Illness Category—A National Student Survey

Bente Storm Mowatt Haugland (), Mari Hysing and Børge Sivertsen
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Bente Storm Mowatt Haugland: Department of Clinical Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, Årstadveien 17, 5009 Bergen, Norway
Mari Hysing: Department of Psychosocial Science, Faculty of Psychology, University of Bergen, 5020 Bergen, Norway
Børge Sivertsen: Department of Health Promotion, Norwegian Institute of Public Health, 5015 Bergen, Norway

IJERPH, 2023, vol. 20, issue 5, 1-16

Abstract: There is limited knowledge on how caring contexts impact young adults providing informal care for persons with chronic conditions. This study examines associations between outcomes in young adult carers (YACs) and type of relationship (e.g., close or distant family member, partner, or someone outside the family) and type of illness in the care-receiver (e.g., mental, physical illness/disability, or substance abuse). A total of 37,731 students (age 18–25, mean 22.3 years, 68% females) in higher education in Norway completed a national survey on care responsibilities, hours of daily caring, relationship and type of illness, mental health problems (Hopkins Symptoms Checklist-25) and life satisfaction (Satisfaction With Life Scale). More mental health problems and lower life satisfaction were found among YACs compared to students without care responsibilities. The poorest outcomes were reported by YACs caring for a partner, followed by YACs caring for a close relative. Hours spent on daily caring was highest when caring for a partner. Poorer outcomes were reported by YACs caring for someone affected by substance abuse, followed by mental health problems and physical illness/disability. At-risk groups among YACs should be acknowledged and offered support. Future studies are needed to investigate the potential mechanism for the associations between care context variables and YAC outcomes.

Keywords: young adult carers; mental health problems; life satisfaction; care-receiver; type of illness; type of relationship; caregiving context; national student survey (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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