Sleep and mental health among unpaid caregivers of children, adults, and both: United States, 2022

Abstract

Objectives: We sought to characterize sleep and mental health, and their relationship, among unpaid caregivers.

Methods: During March through August 2022, four waves of cross-sectional surveys were administered to US adults using demographic quota sampling and weighting to improve representativeness of the US adult population.

Results: Among 19,767 respondents, 6260 (31.7%) identified as serving one or more unpaid caregiving roles. Compared to people without caregiving roles, caregivers more commonly reported sleep duration outside the healthy range (7-9 hours), insomnia symptoms, diagnosed sleep disorders, and more commonly screened positive for anxiety, depression, and burnout symptoms. Multivariable analyses adjusted for demographics characteristics revealed unpaid caregivers had several-fold elevated odds of adverse mental health symptoms; associations were attenuated but remained significant after adjusting for impaired and nonoptimal sleep.

Conclusions: Both sleep and mental health challenges are disproportionately experienced by and commonly co-occur among unpaid caregivers, especially those who care for both children and adults. These populations, which serve critical societal roles, may benefit from enhanced support services to address sleep and mental health.

Keywords: Anxiety; Burnout COVID-19; Depression; Epidemiology; Family caregivers; Insomnia; Public health.