Family relationship quality and psychological and cognitive health among grandparent caregivers: The moderating role of co-residence with adult children

Abstract

The present study explores how family relationship quality is associated with psychological and cognitive health among grandparents who had primary responsibility in raising their grandchildren and examines whether co-residence with adult children moderates this relationship. The study uses data from 589 grandparents who completed the Midlife Development in the United States (MIDUS) survey. Latent profile analysis (LPA) is used to identify grandparent-family relationship types. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression models are used to estimate the association between relationship types and psychological and cognitive health (i.e., psychological distress, psychological well-being, episodic memory, and executive function). LPA identified four grandparent-family relationship types: amicable, ambivalent, neutral, and disharmonious. Compared to grandparents with amicable family relationships, those with ambivalent family relationships had significantly higher levels of psychological distress, reduced psychological well-being, and poorer episodic memory. Further, the association between ambivalent relationships and episodic memory was stronger among respondents who co-resided with their adult children. Emotional closeness with family is essential for grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. This study contributes to a more detailed understanding of the role of relationships with family and suggests that emotional and instrumental support from family is important for increasing grandparent caregivers’ psychological and cognitive well-being.