TY - JOUR

T1 - Does willingness to care fluctuate over time? A weekly diary study among informal caregivers.

AU - Ferraris, Giulia

AU - Zarzycki, Mikołaj

AU - Gérain, Pierre

AU - Elayan, Saif

AU - Morrison, Val

AU - Sanderman, Robbert

AU - Hagedoorn, Mariët

PY - 2023/8/22

Y1 - 2023/8/22

N2 - ObjectiveInformal caregivers are expected to be willing to care for relatives with care needs. Little is known about whether and how willingness to care changes over time. Using a weekly diary study, we examined changes in the willingness of 955 caregivers from nine countries. Caregivers provided information on their caregiving context, relationship type, and relationship satisfaction with the care recipient.Methods and measuresFor 24 consecutive weeks, caregivers evaluated willingness to care as it was ‘right now’.ResultsWillingness differs from one caregiver to another (68% between-level variability) but also fluctuates in the same caregiver from week to week (32% within-level variability), with a decrease over 6 months (intercept = 8.55; slope = −0.93; p < .001). Regardless of individual differences in average willingness to care based on caregiving context and relationship satisfaction, caregivers reported decreases in willingness. Caregivers who presented one or more health conditions themselves reported higher weekly fluctuations in willingness than caregivers with no health conditions.ConclusionWillingness is not a stable attitude because it decreases and caregivers experience fluctuations from week to week. A clearer understanding of weekly processes is optimal for monitoring the caregivers’ well-being and tailoring interventions in line with weekly individual variations.

AB - ObjectiveInformal caregivers are expected to be willing to care for relatives with care needs. Little is known about whether and how willingness to care changes over time. Using a weekly diary study, we examined changes in the willingness of 955 caregivers from nine countries. Caregivers provided information on their caregiving context, relationship type, and relationship satisfaction with the care recipient.Methods and measuresFor 24 consecutive weeks, caregivers evaluated willingness to care as it was ‘right now’.ResultsWillingness differs from one caregiver to another (68% between-level variability) but also fluctuates in the same caregiver from week to week (32% within-level variability), with a decrease over 6 months (intercept = 8.55; slope = −0.93; p < .001). Regardless of individual differences in average willingness to care based on caregiving context and relationship satisfaction, caregivers reported decreases in willingness. Caregivers who presented one or more health conditions themselves reported higher weekly fluctuations in willingness than caregivers with no health conditions.ConclusionWillingness is not a stable attitude because it decreases and caregivers experience fluctuations from week to week. A clearer understanding of weekly processes is optimal for monitoring the caregivers’ well-being and tailoring interventions in line with weekly individual variations.

KW - informal caregiver

KW - Willingness to care

KW - intensive longitudinal design

KW - weekly diary study

KW - within-processes

KW - between-differences

U2 - 10.1080/08870446.2023.2249538

DO - 10.1080/08870446.2023.2249538

M3 - Article

JO - Psychology and Health

JF - Psychology and Health

SN - 0887-0446

ER -