Family Help to the Elderly: Perceptions of Sons-in-Law regarding Parent Care

Abstract

This article examines the consequences of parent care reported by the husbands (N = 150) of women who were principal caregivers of their elderly disabled mothers and compares the men's perceptions of the caregiving situation with those of their wives. Many of the husbands reported the personal effects of parent care often cited by principal caregivers. Those sharing households with their mothers-in-law were more likely to report consequences such as interference in social lives, family vacation plans, time with wives and children, and relationships with other relatives. Overall, husbands and wives disagreed on the extent to which relationships in the nuclear family were affected by caregiving but agreed about the occurrence of more objectively apparent lifestyle disruptions.