Character Strengths and Social Support as Protective Factors between Grandparents’ Caregiving and Health-Related Quality of Life

Abstract

The number of grandparents providing supplementary care for their grandchildren has increased in the past decades. When analyzing the relationship between the amount of care provided by grandparents and their health, there are mixed results. Some studies suggest that the effects on supplementary caregivers’ health appear to be mediated by the context of caregiving (e.g., personal resources, social context, etc) instead of by its intensity. However, little data has examined the relationship between care intensity and Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL) (a concept that goes beyond health status) and what protective factors may mediate between care provided by grandparents and HRQoL. Based on the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin, 1993), we aimed to examine how the amount of care provided to grandchildren relates to grandparents’ mental and physical HRQoL and if social support and character strengths act as protective factors mediating this relationship. A sample of 300 grandparents from Spain participated in this study. We grouped participants by the type of supplementary care they were providing: regular or occasional. To test our hypotheses, we conducted path analysis. Character strengths and social support mediated the effect of the amount of care on grandparents’ mental HRQoL. Results also underlined the importance of character strengths as a mediator between the amount of care provided and grandparents’ physical HRQoL. This study highlights the importance of considering a positive orientation focused on protective factors (social support and character strengths) that may minimize the impact of the difficulties associated with grandparents’ caregiving.