Employment Adjustment and Mental Health of Employed Family Caregivers in Canada
Date
2019-01-04
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Abstract
In Canada, with the population aging, the need of family caregiving to older adults is increasing. Family caregivers make employment adjustment in order to fulfil caregiving responsibility. However, the studies on the family caregivers’ mental health outcomes associated with employment adjustment are limited. Based on the role theory and stress process model, the current study examined the relationship between employment adjustment and mental health outcomes among family caregivers, and also tested the functions of family-to-work role conflict and workplace support in this relationship. Data were drawn from the 2012 Canada General Social Survey Cycle 26: Caregiving and Care Receiving, which provided a sample of 1,696 employed family caregivers. Hierarchical linear regression and conditional process analysis were used to examine the relationship among employment adjustment, mental health, family-to-work role conflict, and workplace support. The analysis results revealed that employment adjustment is significantly associated with negative mental health outcomes, including worse self-rated mental health, more psychological symptoms, and higher life and caregiving stress level. In addition, the mediating effect of family-to-work role conflict was confirmed, such that family-to-work role conflict mediates the association between employment adjustment and mental health outcomes. Furthermore, the moderating effect of workplace support was identified in the relationship between employment adjustment and family-to-work role conflict. Despite some limitations, current study contributes to the existing body of literature on the mental health outcomes of family caregivers by examining the function of employment adjustment, family-to-work role conflict and workplace support at the same time. The study results also call for greater attention to provide caregiver-friendly workplace support to family caregivers.
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family caregiving, mental health, employment adjustment
Citation
Li, L. (2019). Employment Adjustment and Mental Health of Employed Family Caregivers in Canada (Doctoral thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.