What’s New in Psychology?
Grandparenting Brings Exceptional Benefits
Jim Windell
Approximately four million children, including about 10 percent of children under the age of two, live with their grandparents in the United States.
This means that a great many grandparents in this county are responsible for raising their grandchildren. While the reasons for this are many, the question is whether assuming this responsibility is a burden or a blessing. Does raising grandchildren provide any benefits for grandparents?
You only need talk to any grandparent for two minutes before their cellphone lights up with photos and videos of their grandkids. This is the living proof of what so many grandparents already know – that being a nana or grandpap is one of the most positive and fulfilling experiences of the second half of life.
In addition, various research suggests that providing care to grandchildren may be linked to older adults’ health outcomes, including cognitive functioning. The “use it or lose it” hypothesis highlights that social engagement in older adults stimulates intellectual activity and can help to maintain cognitive functioning through neurological pathways, particularly when social activities are complex. Researchers cite the stimulation that childcare activities provide as well as their emotional benefits as explanations for positive cross-sectional and shorter-term links between grandchild caregiving and cognitive functioning.
A new study sought to learn more about the cognitive benefits of grandparenting. Published recently in the Journal of Marriage and Family, new research provides more details about the rewards of being active grandparents. The data for the research comes from the 1998–2016 waves of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and represented over 11,000 U.S. adults aged 50 and over. Using linear growth curve and dynamic panel models, the analysis explored relationships between level of grandchild care and cognitive functioning over time and across sociodemographic, family, work, and health characteristics.
The results show that those adults providing 100–199, 200–499, or more than 500 hours of care to grandchildren had better cognitive functioning than non-caregivers – regardless of whether they lived with grandchildren. Positive links between grandchild caregiving and cognition were stronger for lower income, non-working, and unpartnered adults and grew with age and functional limitations.
Furthermore, the findings were consistent with the “use it or lose it” hypothesis in that it was shown that grandparent participation in everyday forms of social engagement – including caregiving – stimulates intellectual activity. This was found to be particularly true if grandparent-grandchild interactions are complex or demanding, thus helping to maintain older adults’ cognitive functioning.
Grandchild caregivers who provided an average of two to five hours of care per week appeared to fare the best, but both low caregivers (100 to 199 hours of care over two years) and high caregivers (500 or more hours of care over two years) predicted better cognitive functioning.
Although grandparents undertaking high levels of care may have been pushed into these circumstances out of family need rather than choice, still the differences across caregiving level are small. This may suggest that grandchild caregiving may have a modest positive impact on cognitive functioning regardless of level of care.
Consistent with the expectations of the researchers, the positive association between grandchild caregiving and cognitive functioning was not explained by respondents’ multigenerational living arrangements. Interactions between grandchild care-giving and living arrangements also was not particularly significant. Importantly, providing care to grandchildren predicted better cognition regardless of whether grandparents lived with grandchildren or not.
These findings suggest that providing care to minor grandchildren may help support cognitive functioning as adults age. The results also support the hypothesis that more vulnerable or isolated groups of older adults may benefit the most from grandchild caregiving. Also, the cognitive health implications of grandchild caregiving may thus depend on contexts including time spent providing care and living arrangements. Finally, benefits may also vary across sociodemographic groups, but have greater effects on older adults who are more vulnerable to cognitive decline.
To read the full report, find it with this reference:
Caputo, J., Cagney, K. A., & Waite, L. (2024). Keeping us young? Grandchild caregiving and older adults' cognitive functioning. Journal of Marriage and Family, 86(3), 633-654.
