Do male spousal caregivers experience less stress than female spousal caregivers?

Abstract

Among older people, partners are the first in line to deliver informal care and compared to other types of caregivers, partners deliver many hours of care in multiple domains for a longer period of time. Attention should therefore be paid to partner caregiving. Using the theoretical stress-coping model of Pearlin and analyzing data from 1781 couples living throughout the Netherlands (SEM in Mplus), this study revealed that female spousal caregivers do report higher burden than male (5.0 compared to 4.4 on a scale from 0 to 10). Theoretical explanations for this gap are (1) differences in determinants (distinguishing need factors, help from others and secondary stressors) and (2) differences in the strength of the effects of these factors. Differences in the secondary stressors - problems combining tasks and relational problems - are the major explanation for the gender gap. This study shows that a gender-specific approach to supporting partner caregivers is desirable.