ArticleArchives of gerontology and geriatrics
Caring in the time of COVID-19, longitudinal trends in well-being and mental health in carers in Ireland: Evidence from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA).
Article in Archives of gerontology and geriatrics. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 7 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
7 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Unpaid caregiving and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic-A systematic review of the quantitative literature.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Unraveling the complexities: A scoping review of the collateral effects on informal caregivers during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.Palliative care and social practice · 2026Review
- Deterioration of health-related quality of life: the hidden health burden of informal caregiving.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2025Article
- Wellbeing of Family Carers of Adults With Intellectual Disabilities During the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK: Longitudinal Study.Journal of intellectual disability research : JIDR · 2025Article
- Predictors of Deterioration in Mental Well-Being and Quality of Life among Family Caregivers and Older People with Long-Term Care Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Psychosocial resilience surrounding age-typical losses among older adults in Sweden: group-based trajectories over a 25-year-period.Frontiers in public health · 2024Article
- An investigation of what protective individual- and community-level factors are associated with life satisfaction in middle-aged and older family carers in Ireland.Frontiers in public health · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 resulted in the older population being asked to remain at home and avoid other people outside their household. This could have implications for both receipt and provision of informal caring.
objectiveTo determine if informal care provision by older carers changed during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic from pre-pandemic care and if this was associated with a change in mental health and well-being of carers. DESIGN AND
settingLongitudinal nationally representative study of community dwelling adults from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) (Waves 3-COVID-Wave 6).
methodsWe studied a cohort of 3670 adults aged ≥60 in Ireland during the COVID-19 pandemic (July-November 2020) and compared with previous data collections from the same cohort between 2014-2018. Independent variables were caregiving status and caregiving intensity, outcome measures included depressive symptoms (CES-D8), Perceived Stress (PSS4) and Quality of life (CASP12). Mixed models adjusting for socio-demographics and physical health were estimated.
resultsCaregiving increased from 8.2% (2014) to 15.4% (2020). Depression, and stress scores increased while quality of life decreased for all participants. Carers reported poorer mental health, and higher caring hours were associated with increased depression and stress and decreased quality of life scores on average, and increased depression was higher for women.
conclusionsInformal caregiving increased during the pandemic and family caregivers reported increased adverse mental health and well-being and this continued throughout the early months of the pandemic. The disproportionate burden of depression was highest in women providing higher caring hours.
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