Abstract
BackgroundThere may be differences in gender and marital status in the impact of grandchild care on the depression of the Chinese older adults. This research explores the effect of grandchild care on the depression of Chinese older adults of different genders and marital status, and explores the mediating role of intergenerational support from children between grandchild care and depression.MethodsThis research uses the data of 3540 Chinese older adults from the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) in 2018. The OLS model is used to analyze the effect of grandchild care on the depression of the older adults. and the older adults are classified according to gender and marital status, and the differences in the effect of grandchild care on the depression of the elderly of different genders and marital status is explored. Finally, the bootstrap method is used to test the mediating effect of intergenerational support from children.ResultsThe research finds that grandchild care has a significant impact on the depression of the older adults in China, and providing grandchild care can significantly reduce the depression of the older adults. The effect of grandchild care on the depression of the older adults is different between different genders and marital status. After categorizing the older adults by gender, the grandchild care only has a significant impact on the depression of female older adults; after classified by marital status, grandchild care only has a significant impact on the depression of the older adults who don’t have a spouse. The mediating effect analysis shows that both children’s emotional support and children’s economic support have a mediating effect between grandchild care and depression of the older adults.ConclusionThe depression of the Chinese older adults is affected by grandchild care, and this effect is more prominent in female older adults and the older adults who don’t have a spouse. The society should support and encourage capable older adults to participate in grandchild care, and children should also provide more intergenerational support to the older adults who provide grandchild care, so as to further play the role of grandchild care in relieving depression of the older adults.
Highlights
There may be differences in gender and marital status in the impact of grandchild care on the depression of the Chinese older adults
Sample selection This research is based on the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study 2018(CHARLS2018) database to study the impact of grandchild care on the depression of Chinese older adults
Based on the CHARLS2018 database, this paper studies the effect of grandchild care on the depression of Chinese older adults, and uses the Bootstrap method to analyze the mediating effect of intergenerational support from children
Summary
There may be differences in gender and marital status in the impact of grandchild care on the depression of the Chinese older adults. This research explores the effect of grandchild care on the depression of Chinese older adults of different genders and marital status, and explores the mediating role of intergenerational support from children between grandchild care and depression. In East Asian countries with heavy family concepts, it is more common for the older adults to provide grandchild care. They do not regard caring for their grandchildren as a burden, but as a way to realize their self-worth [16]. Since the implementation of the relaxation of the fertility policy, whether grandparents provide grandchild care services will greatly affect the childbirth decision of adult children [17]
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