Mother-Daughter Relationships During the First Year of Caregiving: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

Mother-daughter relationships during the first year of adult daughters caregiving for their aging mothers are examined. Eight daughters caring for their mothers were interviewed one year into their caregiving experience to examine mother-daughter relationships and the decision to provide care. These eight daughters were recruited from a much larger survey study in the Midwest. Based on taped, open ended interviews, findings indicate that the mother-daughter relationship is stable but not without transitional conflicts. The decision to take on the caregiver role extended beyond the physical need for care and included the strong life-long relationships with their mothers as well as their fathers. Conflict was found to be associated with living arrangement: those daughters who co-re-sided with their mothers expressed more conflict. Yet, in some cases conflict as well as caregiving strengthened attachment. Half of the daughters had never thought of or planned on caring for their mothers and found the caregiving role stressful initially, yet after one year of providing care, all of the daughters said “they would do it again.” The authors call for expanding our concept of “family planning” and discuss the need for interventions that prepare women and families for these caregiving years.