Mental health declines when becoming an unpaid carer

Becoming an unpaid carer for family and friends negatively affects the mental health of people of all ages and genders, finds a new study by researchers at UCL and St George's, University of London. The research, published in The Lancet Public Health , used data from more than 17,000 people in the UK Household Longitudinal Study between 2009 and 2020 to investigate mental and physical health changes around the transition to becoming a caregiver for the first time in adults aged 16 and older. Data was collected on 16,906 people from the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) which measures psychological distress on a range from 0 to 12, with a score of 4 or more being indicative of a mental health problem. The team also used data from 17,909 people who took the 12-item Short Form Survey (SF-12), which measures physical and mental functioning - with a higher score showing better cognitive function. The team looked at the mental and physical health of caregivers at three points: eight years before becoming a carer, during caring, and eight years after becoming a carer. They also considered four life stages - early adulthood (16-29 years), early mid-adulthood (30-49 years), later mid-adulthood (50-64 years), and later life (65+ years). The team then compared their scores with non-caregivers who were otherwise similar.