Is Raising Your Grandchild Bad for Your Health? The Association Between Custodial Grandparent Status and Health Biomarkers in Taiwanese Grandparents.

Zoe Fokakis,Danielle Nadorff,Ian Mckay

doi:10.3390/ijerph17051753

Abstract

Data from two waves of the Social Environment and Biomarkers of Aging Study in Taiwan were analyzed to determine the effects of custodial grandparenting on health in a longitudinal sample. Self-reported measures on respondents’ perception of their health, six health biomarkers, the presence of twelve diseases, and a measure of stress were included. Custodial Grandparents (CGPs) were significantly more likely to report worse health than their peers. However, there were no significant differences in biomarkers, and CGPs were only significantly different from non-custodial grandparents (nCGPs) regarding lower respiratory disease. Results suggest that CGPs do not have significantly worse health than nCGPs, but report feeling less healthy. This disparity is suspected to be due to energy levels or stress sources not assessed by the variables in the original study. These results and their implications based upon the stress-coping model elucidate the need to design interventions that incorporate the East Asian cultural values and practices in order to promote better health outcomes for CGP populations overall.

Highlights

10% of all grandparents living in the United States live with their grandchildren.Of these 6.7 million grandparents, more than 4.9 million were in households that were headed by the grandparents themselves, and about one third of co-resident households had no middle generation present [1]
There was little to no actual difference in their health compared to their non-custodial grandparents (nCGPs) counterparts, with the only significant group difference being for lower respiratory disease
While stress levels were examined as a possible explanation for these results, no relationship between Overall Stress and custodial status was observed

Summary

Introduction

10% of all grandparents living in the United States live with their grandchildren. Of these 6.7 million grandparents, more than 4.9 million were in households that were headed by the grandparents themselves, and about one third of co-resident households had no middle generation present [1]. Taking on the responsibility of caring for one’s grandchild can place an added, unexpected strain on older adults. This strain can manifest in physical, psychological, and emotional health complications or in their financial situation

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Conclusion