Life satisfaction and subjective health status of young carers: A questionnaire survey conducted on Osaka prefectural high school students

Abstract

Objectives Research suggests that Japan has a substantial number of young carers, that is, children who provide care to their family members. However, little is known about the effects of their caring roles on their life satisfaction and health status. Therefore, the objective of the present study was to investigate the relationship between caring roles, life satisfaction, and subjective health status among high school students, as well as to discuss the effects of caring roles on young carers' life satisfaction and subjective health status.Methods We conducted a questionnaire survey on 6,160 high school students from 10 prefectural schools in Osaka prefecture, Japan. The questionnaire included questions relating to family members and students' caring roles, with one question regarding life satisfaction, one question regarding self-rated health status, and seven questions regarding subjective health symptoms. Principal component analysis was applied to responses to the seven questions regarding subjective health symptoms. Then, the relationship between caring roles, life satisfaction, and subjective health status was analyzed, with adjustment for potential confounding factors.Results A total of 5,246 valid questionnaires were collected; however, our analysis was limited to 4,509 valid questionnaires that included all the required information. It was found that 47 (1.0%) students provided care for infant siblings without disability, illness, or other special needs (Young Carers A), and 233 (5.2%) provided care for family members with disabilities, illnesses, or other special needs (Young Carers B). The remaining 4,229 (93.8%) students (those who did not provide care to their family members) formed the control group. Logistic regression analysis indicated a significant relationship between caring roles and life satisfaction (P<0.001). The odds ratios for dissatisfaction among Young Carers A and B were 2.742 and 1.546, respectively, which were statistically significant (P<0.001 and P=0.003, respectively). Although no significant relationship was found between self-rated health status and caring roles (P=0.109), the principal component score for subjective health symptoms in multiple regression analysis revealed a significant relationship with caring roles (P<0.001). Compared with the control group, the partial regression coefficients among Young Carers A and B were 0.362 and 0.330, respectively, which were also statistically significant (P=0.012 and P<0.001, respectively).Conclusion Our results suggest that excessive caring burden may have adverse effects on young carers' life satisfaction and subjective health status.