Family Caregiving and Stress Processes: Son and Daughter Caregivers in Japan

In Japan, caregiving of elderly parents has been traditionally the responsibility of the family; the wives of eldest sons, or daughters-in-law of the elderly, typically provided care for elderly parents. However, the profile of family caregivers has been changing in the past few decades. One of the major changes is the increase of male caregivers. Presently, about 30% of primary caregivers are sons or husbands of the impaired elderly. A growing concern is that these male caregivers may have different types of difficulties or stress from caregiving, compared with their female counterparts. For instance, a recent national survey on elderly abuse reported that more than a half of the abusers are male caregivers. Evidence suggests the possibility of gender differences in stress processes. However, most previous studies are on female caregivers, and research on gender differences in stress processes is very limited in Japan. Are there gender differences in the stress processes of family caregiving? This study seeks to address this question by drawing on stress process theory (Pearlin et al. 1990). I analyzed data from a survey conducted in 2011 on son and daughter caregivers aged 40 to 64 years old, who take care of their elderly parents at home as primary caregivers. The analysis results show that the stress proliferation processes of son and daughter caregivers share many similarities in terms of pattern, whereas certain differences appear to reflect the gendered nature of Japanese society.