The representations of caregiving in informal caregivers

Informal caregiving is usually deemed stressful and an activity leading to worsening life conditions. Nevertheless, recent studies have suggested the possibility for an informal caregiver to simultaneously experience both positive and negative feelings, identifying in the positive assets the merit of raising resilience and a sense of self-effectiveness. To support informal caregivers and promote their personal well-being, which is crucial also for social well-being, research needs to focus on understanding how they perceive their experiences as caregivers. Based on the theoretical perspectives of caregiving system theory and social representation theory, this research had two aims: first, to compare in terms of caregiving system orientations (especially focusing on deactivation and anxious hyperactivation of the system) people with and without informal caregiving experiences and people who currently are or had been informal caregivers; second, to investigate whether the representations of the salient aspects of caregiving change according to currently being or having been an informal caregiver. The results showed differences in anxiety according to caregiver’s experience (current vs. former) and revealed that those caregivers who reported higher scores in anxiety subscale, in comparison to those reporting lower scores in this dimension, tend to devote more attention to the self.