Presenter: Zag McDowall – Psychology
Faculty Mentor(s): Alicia DeLouize, Josh Snodgrass
Session: (In-Person) Poster Presentation
Caregiving for children, people with disabilities, and the elderly is essential for society as a whole. These responsibilities disproportionately fall upon women, especially low-income women. Support, whether from other family members, the community, or the government is often minimal, and their labor is largely undervalued. The high demand on caregivers can impact mental health, and, for individuals where providing care is a larger time commitment, engaging in buffering activities related to social connection may be challenging. Analyzing the relationship between burden of care, social support, and income on depression in caregivers provides a better understanding of how these factors contribute to or mitigate the burden of care. With data collected from the World Health Organization’s Study on Global AGEing and Adult Health (SAGE) in Mexico, India, Russia, China, Ghana, and South Africa, we performed a three-way ANOVA. For women in South Africa, the number of hours caregiving and social cohesion were not associated with depression. We hope that further research will elucidate the characteristics that link caregiving with depression in some communities.