New burdens or more of the same? Comparing grandparent, spouse, and adult-child caregivers.

This study compares the health of 42 grandparent, 44 spouse, and 130 adult-child caregivers with 1,669 noncaregivers in 1994 and 1974. In 1994, all three caregiver groups had poorer mental health than the noncaregivers; grandparent caregivers also had poorer physical health and greater activity limitations. Spouse and adult-child caregivers had not differed from the noncaregivers 20 years prior, but grandparent caregivers had experienced poorer health than the noncaregivers and more stressful life events than the other caregivers. Caregiving appears to add new burdens to otherwise normal lives for spouse and adult-child caregivers, while being yet another aspect of a difficult life course for grandparent caregivers.