Page 73 - IJPS-8-1

International Journal of
Population Studies Intergenerational relationships and caregiving burden

to mental health outcomes, such as burden. In addition, have not been clarified, and we suggested that reliable and
Pearlin et al. (1981) hypothesized that social support valid scales should be used to measure intergenerational
might inhibit or buffer the effects of stressors on mental relationships to gain a more comprehensive understanding.
health. That is, social support may be either a mediator Second, the relationship between intergenerational
or moderator in the relationship between stressors and relationships and caregiver burden shows complexity
burden. Second, following his seminal publication in 1981, and great variation; intergenerational relationships can
Pearlin’s Stress Process Model in 1990 was applied in the directly alleviate or exacerbate caregiver burden, or they
caregiving context. In this updated model, Pearlin et al. can be important psychological resources. Finally, we
(1990) pointed out that family conflict might be a kind of suggested that future studies could pay more attention
secondary stressor and that social support is an important to theories and use some theoretical frameworks to help
mediator for individuals, without explaining this mediating explain the variation in caregiver health outcomes, such
mechanism clearly. However, Pearlin’s Stress Process Model as the Pearlin’s Stress Process Model. In conclusion, this
in 1999 named social support as “moderating resources” systematic review shows that further examining the impact
rather than “mediating resources,” which is quite different of intergenerational relationships on caregiver burden is
from the version in 1990. Pearlin (1999) pointed out that an indispensable prerequisite for interventions that could
social support may reduce or contain the intensity of a positively influence the health outcomes of caregivers.
stressor, inhibit the emergence of secondary stressors, and For this purpose, more studies are needed to deepen the
cushion the effect of the stressors on outcomes. In summary, understanding of the different aspects of intergenerational
Pearlin et al. held the view that family conflict is a stressor relationships and caregiver burden.
for caregiver burden. However, it’s difficult to find a clear
way with social support in influencing caregiver burden in Acknowledgments
his models. Does social support mediate the relationship None.
between social context, stressors, and stress outcomes?
Or does social support moderate the effect of stressors on Funding
stress outcomes? In our review of empirical studies, we also This study was supported by Beijing Education Sciences
found the same puzzle that the role of intergenerational Fourteenth 5-year Planning Young Scholar Project (Ref.
relationships on caregiver burden was inconclusive. No. BACA21111).
4.4. Limitations Conflicts of Interest
The findings of this systematic review should be interpreted
with caution due to several limitations. First, considering The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with
that demographics are highly related to intergenerational respect to research, authorship, and/or publication of this
relationships and could drastically change over decades, article.
the searches of the articles were limited to three databases Authors’ Contributions
(Web of Science, Scopus, and PsycINFO) over a specific
period (2012 – 2022) to obtain the most recent studies. Ke X. and Fu Y. worked together to make substantial
Therefore, future studies can extend the period or databases contributions to the conceptualization and design of the
to obtain more relevant literature. Second, to accomplish study, analysis of the data, drafting the manuscript, and
our research aim, this review included only quantitative revising the manuscript.
studies, and all the studies had cross-sectional designs. Ethics Statement
We think that it would be interesting for future studies to
include different study designs, such as qualitative studies, This study did not involve human subjects. The human
randomized controlled trials, case–control studies, and data in this study are secondary data from the previous
so on, which will help facilitate a better understanding studies in public databases.
of the complex relationship between intergenerational
relationships and caregiver burden. Availability of Supporting Data
5. Conclusions All data are secondary data from publicly available data
sources.
Overall, this systematic review has contributed to the
understanding of the relationship between intergenerational References
relationships and caregiver burden over the past decade. Aires M, Mocellin D, Fengler FL, et al. (2017). Association
First, measurements of intergenerational relationships between filial responsibility when caring for parents and

Volume 8 Issue 1 (2022) 67 https://doi.org/10.36922/ijps.v8i1.1320