Abstract
BackgroundCaring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents. This study aims to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren, based on the gender differences in grandparental role engagement and the theories of role strain and role enhancement.MethodsA total of 4833 rural citizens with one or more grandchildren were selected from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) conducted in 2015. Grandchild care was measured by continuous variable (duration) and categorical variable (no care, low intensity, moderate intensity, high intensity). Depressive symptoms were assessed by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). We used coarsened exact matching (CEM) to balance the covariates of caregivers and non-caregivers. Following CEM, 1975 non-caregivers and 2212 caregivers were identified (N = 4187). Multilevel linear regression was employed to examine the gender differences in depressive symptoms. We also tested for the moderating role of gender on the association between grandchild care and depressive symptoms.ResultsGrandmothers were more likely to provide grandchild care (54.42% vs 51.43%) at high intensity (61.46% vs 51.01%), with longer duration (39.24 h vs 33.15 h) than that given by grandfathers. Grandmothers suffered more from depressive symptoms than grandfathers, and such gap increased when grandparents were involved in high-intensity care. Grandmothers providing grandchild care, particularly at moderate intensity, were associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = − 0.087, 95%CI: − 0.163, − 0.010; Coef. = − 0.291, 95%CI: − 0.435, − 0.147), compared with non-caregivers. Grandmothers giving moderate intensity of grandchild care were also associated with fewer depressive symptoms (Coef. = − 0.171, 95% CI: − 0.313, − 0.029), compared with those with low-intensity care. However, such associations were not significant among grandfathers.ConclusionsOur findings highlight the gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren. Grandparents should be encouraged to engage in grandchild care, but at moderate intensity. The health status of middle- and old-aged adults, particularly females, should be monitored closely. Humanistic care, preventive care and curative treatment strategies focusing on such populations should be developed and refined.
Highlights
Caring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents
We propose the following hypotheses: (1) compared with non-caregivers, caregivers are expected to have fewer depressive symptoms; (2) caregivers providing nonintensive of grandchild care are expected to have fewer depressive symptoms, whereas those with intensive grandchild-care involvement are likely to have more depressive symptoms; (3) the above associations are applicable to grandmothers rather than grandfathers; (4) grandmothers suffer more from depressive symptoms than grandfathers
Grandmothers were more likely to provide grandchild care (54.42% vs 51.43%) with longer duration (39.24 h vs 33.15 h), and they gave more care at high intensity (61.46% vs 51.01%) than grandfathers
Summary
Caring for grandchildren is regarded as one of the principle roles of middle- and old-aged adults, especially among rural Chinese grandparents. In Asian countries, especially China, grandparents take grandchild care for granted, because of common multigenerational family structures and financial supports from adult children (grandchild care is a form of “time-for-money” exchange in some cases), and as inherited duties derived from traditional and cultural norms [1, 8]. Such customs of multigenerational co-residence and traditional cultural values are validated by the ancient Chinese belief system of Confucianism, which highlights the importance of familial harmony [9] and places great emphasis on the significance of Chinese grandparents’ providing grandchild care
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