Stressors and Resources Among Adult Child Caregivers in the Presence or Absence of Siblings

Recent attention has focused on understanding later-life caregiving networks, emphasizing how multiple adult children within the same family navigate parental care. However, families with one child are increasingly common, and we know little about how adult only children experience caregiving and whether their experiences differ from those with siblings. Therefore, this study assessed differences in caregiving experiences between adult child caregivers with and without siblings and whether associations between caregiving experiences and mental health (i.e., psychological well-being and distress) vary by sibling presence.

We used cross-sectional data from 1,773 adult child caregivers (12% without siblings; Mage = 56.75 [9.23]) in the National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. We conducted t tests and a series of multivariate regressions with interactions to test hypotheses.

Adult only child caregivers reported more financial difficulty with care than respondents with siblings. The negative association between emotional difficulty of care and psychological well-being was stronger among adult children without siblings. Informal support was positively associated with psychological well-being only for adult children with siblings, although this may be accounted for by race and ethnicity.

Findings suggest that adult only children may be at elevated risks of the financial difficulties and the emotional consequences of parental care provision. Further, informal support may be less protective for adult only children's well-being. Given the increasing prevalence of single-child families, more research is needed to better understand and support adult only children caring for parents.