Caregiving as a life course transition among older husbands: A prospectivestudy

Guided primarily by transitions theory, this study examined changes over tw o points in time (approximately 5 years apart) in multiple life domains (i. e., household tasks, social life, marital relationship, and well-being) bet ween two groups of husbands aged 60 and older, who indicated that their wiv es were not in need of care or assistance due to an illness or disability a t the initial interview. The two groups included husbands who identified th emselves as a provider of care at Time 2 (T2; i.e., they had transitioned i nto the caregiver role; n = 26), and those married to healthy wives at T2 ( i.e., noncaregivers; 262). Data came from a national probability sample of U.S. adults who were primary respondents to the National Survey of Families and Households in 1987-88, and who were followed up longitudinally in 1992 -93. Findings suggested that husbands who entered the caregiving role demon strated significant changes in household responsibilities, social integrati on, marital relationship, and well-being. Implications for practice and fut ure research on the older husband caregiver are highlighted.