The changing role of family as provider of intergenerational support during COVID- 19: a longitudinal study into the mental health consequences for older Europeans

Abstract

Intergenerational support is an important determinant of mental health for all family members involved. Due to limited access to formal care, the role of the family as provider of support became more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic. To date, it remains unclear how intergenerational support from adult children to older parents was affected during the pandemic and whether this had consequences for the mental health of the parent generation. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) Corona Surveys, we explore whether changes in support going from non-coresident adult children to their parents are associated with parents’ changes in depressive feelings. Additionally, we test whether the pandemic context and stringency of public health measures affected this relationship. Families responded to the increased needs of elderly parents by providing more informal support. These changes in intergenerational support, however, were related to increased depressive feelings for the older parents. Furthermore, both the strictness of public health measures and the concurrent epidemiological situation affected this relationship. We conclude that the family is an essential source of late-life well-being. But, stressful life events such as public health crises put pressure on these intergenerational relations with potential adverse mental health outcomes. Future policies should take into account the ambivalent nature of intergenerational relationships.