Effects of personality on the transition into caregiving

Recent research has emphasized the critical role of personality in the caregiving situation, but not much is known about how individual differences shape the transitions into and out of caregiving. Based on longitudinal data from the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP, N= 14,495), we explored how personality is associated with adopting and maintaining the caregiving role. The results revealed that individuals with less emotional stability were more likely to take over the responsibility to provide care. Moreover, care-related personality change was affected by sex and age. In detail, female care entrants were more burdened than their male counterparts, and younger caregivers seemed to adapt better to the caregiving role than older ones. The findings point to the interplay of personality and sociostructural conditions in the caregiving role over time.