Page 71 - IJPS-8-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Intergenerational relationships and caregiving burden

78, with higher scores indicating greater satisfaction. In solidarity influences caregiver burden. Liu and Bern-Klug
addition, in the study by Lin et al. (2012), adult children’s (2016) found that an emotionally close relationship with
satisfaction with their intergenerational relationship was the parent increased worries about performance, which
determined by assessing how they felt regarding two items: means that adult children feel more worries and emotional
“I get along well with my parent” and “I am satisfied with burden when they have more affectual closeness with their
the relationship with my parent.” parents. However, based on the same database as in Liu and
Bern-Klug’s study, Wu et al. (2021) found that relationship
3.3.3. Intergenerational conflict closeness with the care recipient and willingness to provide

In this review, we found that researchers measured the care was not associated with burden. Last but not least, it
extent of intergenerational conflict from both the adult- deserves more attention that although most of the studies
child and parental perspectives. del-Pino-Casado et al. try to determine how intergenerational relationships affect
(2014) and Lopez-Anuarbe and Kohli (2019) both asked caregiver burden, we found that some studies try to find
caregivers how they feel appreciation from their parents. a bidirectional relationship between intergenerational
In the study by Queluz et al. (2022), conflict was assessed relationships and caregiver burden. For example, Queluz et
by items such as “I felt depressed when I had problems al. (2022) found that not only were the positive interaction
with my relationship” and “I felt angry toward him/her.” between the dyads and the presence of conflicts negatively
Wu et al. (2021) also asked about caregivers’ willingness and positively correlated with burden, respectively, but also
to provide care and divided the answer into willing to do that burden was predictive of a worse interaction between
versus without patience/need respite care/unwilling to do. the dyad and of the presence of conflicts.
In summary, although intergenerational relationships 3.4.2. Intergenerational relationships as psychosocial
are multidimensional and complex, by combining these resources for caregivers
eight studies, we found that tools for intergenerational In addition, researchers have also explored the impact of
relationships were based on two major dimensions, intergenerational relationships as a psychosocial resource
solidarity and conflict. In addition, comprehensive scales for caregivers when faced with challenges and difficulties
were used for measurement in some studies (Enright, in caregiving. Lin et al. (2012) found that caregiver burden
O’Connell, Branger, et al., 2020; Queluz, de Santis, de significantly improved caregiver depression and that
Fatima Kirchner, et al.,2022).
intergenerational relationships moderated the effect of
3.4. The role of intergenerational relationships in burden on depression. The relationship between caregiving
affecting caregiver burden burden and his or her level of depression was weaker when
participants had a better parent-child relationships. Enright
We summarized the mechanisms of the role of et al. (2020) explored the relationship among perceived
intergenerational relationships in affecting caregiver burden identity change, intergenerational relationship quality, and
through these eight studies and found that intergenerational caregiver burden using a mediation model. They found
relationships can be both stressors of burden and important that relationship quality mediated the association between
psychosocial resources for caregivers.
perceived identity change and caregiver burden. Caregiver-
3.4.1. Intergenerational relationships as a stressor of reported changes in the identity predicted significantly
burden led to a decrease in relationship quality, which predicted
increases in caregiver burden levels.
First, with regard to structural-associational solidarity,
Aires et al. (2017) found that involvements with ADLs and In summary, the mechanisms by which intergenerational
the provision of financial support were positively correlated relationships impact adult children’s caregiving burden
with burden. Queluz et al. (2022) found that a positive remain unclear and need further exploration through
interaction between the dyads was negatively correlated more comprehensively designed empirical research.
with burden. Second, concerning intergenerational
conflict, the subjective burden was negatively associated 4. Discussion
with reciprocity and appreciation from older parents. To the best of our knowledge, this systematic review is the
When adult children receive more positive feedback but first attempt to compare the effects of intergenerational
not negative emotions from their parents, they feel less relationships on caregiver burden across studies focusing
burden (del-Pino-Casado, Millán-Cobo, Palomino-Moral, on family caregivers of older adults. Some studies have
et al., 2014; Lopez-Anuarbe and Kohli, 2019; Queluz, pointed out a significantly positive relationship between
de Santis, de Fatima Kirchner, et al., 2022). Third, we intergenerational relationships and caregiver burden.
found some contradictory conclusions on how affectual However, some studies reported a negative association

Volume 8 Issue 1 (2022) 65 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i1.1320