Reconstructing Identity in the Shadow of Dementia: Narrative Identity Processes Among Adult Child Caregivers

Caring for a parent with dementia constitutes a profound relational and existential transition for adult children, extending beyond functional caregiving demands to processes of identity negotiation and reconstruction. Although extensive research has documented caregiver burden, psychological distress, and health consequences in dementia caregiving, comparatively little attention has been devoted to the narrative mechanisms through which caregivers sustain a coherent sense of self. Drawing on narrative identity theory, ambiguous loss theory, and the concept of biographical disruption, this qualitative narrative study explored how adult children construct identity narratives while caring for a parent with dementia. Semi-structured narrative interviews with 21 caregivers were analyzed using a holistic narrative approach informed by narrative selection theory. Four dominant narrative identity patterns emerged: management narratives emphasizing control and competence, growth narratives framing caregiving as personal transformation, protective boundary narratives focusing on identity differentiation, and fracture and alienation narratives. These narratives functioned as adaptive mechanisms for negotiating agencies, continuity, and moral positioning under conditions of chronic relational loss. The findings extend dementia caregiving research by conceptualizing caregiving as an ongoing narrative identity project rather than solely a burden experience, highlighting the central role of meaning-making, cultural expectations, and epistemic agency in caregiver adaptation.