Caregiving in Quarantine: Evaluating the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Adult Child Informal Caregivers of a Parent

Informal caregivers form a shadow workforce projected to grow even more essential as the U.S. population ages. Most are untrained in the caregiving role and manage the competing demands of work, relationships, and other life obligations that compound their burden and threaten resilience. Adult children who care for a parent now face a global health crisis specifically targeting older adults. This study examined how the pandemic has affected their subjective burden in the role. The Zarit Burden Interview measure was employed to investigate differences in subjective burden before and during the Covid-19 pandemic among adult children who are primary informal caregivers for a parent. Specifically, this study explored family composition to determine whether the presence of siblings or dependent children affected burden levels. A convenience sample (N=77) reported significantly more burden overall since the onset of the pandemic when compared to pre-pandemic burden. Those with living siblings reported less burden during the pandemic than those without siblings, while there was no difference in burden between sandwich caregivers and those providing care only for a parent. This study’s results point to the role family plays in resilience during a crisis and emphasizes the need to promote efficient supports and networks to alleviate caregiver burden