ArticleSocial science & medicine (1982)2023
Does caring for others affect our mental health? Evidence from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Article in Social science & medicine (1982), 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 17 citations in OpenAlex.
- Unpaid caregiving and mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic-A systematic review of the quantitative literature.PloS one · 2024Pooled it
- Hospice Use and Spiritual Support for Family and Friend Caregivers at the End of Life and During Bereavement.The American journal of hospice & palliative care · 2026Observational
- Impact of integrated care models on inpatient costs and health services efficiency: evidence from a difference-in-differences analysis in China.Health policy and planning · 2026Article
- Impact of the compact county medical service community policy on healthcare resource allocation and healthcare service utilization in village clinics: a difference-in-differences analysis in rural Sichuan, China.Frontiers in public health · 2026Article
- 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
- Time value of informal care of people with alzheimer's disease in Spain: a population-based analysis.The European journal of health economics : HEPAC : health economics in prevention and care · 2025Article
- Increased Care Provision and Caregiver Wellbeing: Moderation by Changes in Social Network Care Provision.The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · 2024Article
- Long-term health conditions and UK labour market outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic.PloS one · 2024Article
- Physical and mental health of 40,000 older women in England during the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021).PloS one · 2024Article
- Impact of informal care on the mental health of caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic.Journal of public health (Oxford, England) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Despite a growing literature about the mental health effects of COVID-19, less is known about the psychological costs of providing informal care during the pandemic. We examined longitudinal data from the UK's Understanding Society Survey, including eight COVID surveys, to estimate fixed effects difference-in-differences models combined with matching, to explore the causal effects of COVID-19 among informal carers. While matching accounts for selection on observables into caregiving, multiple period difference-in-differences specifications allow investigation of heterogeneous mental health effects of COVID-19 by timing and duration of informal care. The estimates suggest that while mental health fluctuated following the imposition of social restrictions, informal carers who started caregiving during the pandemic show the largest mental health deterioration, especially during lockdowns. Policies to mitigate the psychological burden of caregiving might be more effective if targeted at those starting to provide care for the first time.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.