Influence of Social Environment on Young Carers,Assistance and Consequences of Caregiving

The study examines (a) the influence of family environment on young carers’ mind, (b) the assistance young carers provide, and (c) the consequences of young caregiving. Fifty child-carers and 50 child-non-carers were studied. Each child of both the groups was asked to construct stories seeing visuals and only the child-carers replied to open-ended questions on assistance and consequences of caregiving. Content analysis of stories reveals that the caregivers express more nurturance, endurance, sympathy, affiliation, anxiety, dejection, awareness, aggression, harm avoidance, and conflict than the non-carers. Child-carers are found assisting in domestic and emotional caring. They have also reported low concentration, insecurity, distrust, worry, and negative consequences. Findings suggest that caregiving environment exerts a potential influence in the minds of children than the non-caregiving environment. While caregiving teaches positive values, it has negative consequences as well.