The Gerontologist, Vol 31, Issue 6 770-777, Copyright © 1991 by The Gerontological Society of America

ARTICLES

Impact of family conflict on adult child caregivers

WJ Strawbridge and MI Wallhagen
Human Population Laboratory, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Family conflict is an overlooked yet potentially critical component of the caregiving experience. In a study of 100 adult child caregivers, 40% were experiencing relatively serious conflict with another family member, usually a sibling. Most conflict arose because the relative failed to provide sufficient help. Path analysis revealed that caregivers experiencing family conflict had significantly higher perceived burden and poorer mental health than did caregivers without conflict, even when quality of the caregiver's relationship with the parent, extent of caregiver tasks, income, gender, and age were taken into account.

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