Informal Care Networks in the Context of Multimorbidity: Size, Composition, and Associations With Recipient Psychological Well-Being.

OBJECTIVE

We evaluate how the size and composition of care networks change with increasing morbidity count (i.e., multimorbidity) and how larger care networks relate to recipient psychological well-being.

METHOD

Using the National Health and Aging Trends study (NHATS; N = 7,026), we conduct multivariate regressions to analyze size and compositional differences in care networks by morbidity count and recipient gender, and to examine differences in recipient psychological well-being linked to care network size.

RESULTS

Women report larger and more diverse care networks than men. These gender differences strengthen with increasing morbidity count. Larger care networks are associated with diminished psychological well-being among care recipients, especially as morbidity increases.

DISCUSSION

These findings reveal how increasing morbidity translates differently to care network size and diversity for men and women. They also suggest that having multiple caregivers may undermine the psychological well-being of care recipients who face complex health challenges.