The impact of grandchild care on depressive symptoms of grandparents in China: The mediating effects of generational support from children

Abstract

ObjectivesDespite extensive studies about the direct effect of grandchild care on caregiver depression in China, understanding of its internal influencing mechanism has been limited. After controlling for socioeconomic factors, this study investigated whether the experience of caring for grandchildren had a long-term impact on the depression levels of grandparents, either directly or indirectly through generational support from adult children.MethodsThe subjects of this study were a total of 9,219 adults over 45 who participated in the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Surveys in 2015 and 2018. We adopted a lag-behind variable to examine the impact of grandchild care on depressive symptoms of grandparents. The proposed mediation model was analyzed using bootstrap modeling, and the KHB method was conducted further to examine differences in the effects of generational support.ResultsThe experience of caring for grandchildren had a significant negative correlation with the depression level of Chinese grandparents. Moreover, children's support significantly mediated the impact of parenting experience on grandparents' depression. Significantly, instrumental support mediated the effect to the greatest extent, while emotional support from children contributed the least. The intermediary effect has urban–rural heterogeneity.ConclusionThese findings indicated that grandchild care significantly inhibited the depression level of Chinese grandparents through increased intergenerational support from adult children. The implications of the study's findings were discussed.

Continuity and changes in grandchild care and the risk of depression for Chinese grandparents: new evidence from CHARLS

“…It appeared that these articles used data from other countries in the early 20th century, while our findings emphasized that in recent China there seemed to be no extra mental benefit of longterm intensive care for grandparents. Against the background of modernity, Chinese young grandparents, on the one hand, maintain a certain degree of emotional need in intergenerational interaction and, on the other hand, gradually acquire the characteristics of independence (47). The youngest grandparents (i.e., from 45 to 69 years old) received the most benefits of stopping and reducing the intensity of care, while the older grandparents did not (see Supplementary Table S4), which supported our interpretation to some extent.…”

Grandparenting and life satisfaction among Chinese elderlies: a study of possible mechanisms

“…A recent study that utilized longitudinal data involving 9,219 adults over 45 years [ 35 ] showed that caring for grandchildren positively correlates with better mental well-being among Chinese grandparents. Portions of the findings further revealed that children's support significantly mediates the impact of parenting experience on grandparents' mental well-being.…”