Does being a grandparent affect mental health?

Approximately one billion people in the world’s population are grandparents, so understanding the complex impact of grandparenting on individuals’ health is important for planning the global strategy of active ageing. Here, we take a look at Dr Yazhen Yang’s research on how being a grandparent affects mental health, and how this differs across countries and cultures.

Healthy grandparenthood is of great importance in the context of rapid population ageing. With policy reforms to increase the pension age being implemented worldwide, the stress resulting from becoming a grandparent and caring for grandchildren whilst working could increase if people retire at an older age.

The findings of this study show that becoming a grandparent can lessen the effect of depressive symptoms on grandparents in lower income countries. But in higher income countries, it can worsen depressive symptoms for grandparents. The effect of providing care for grandchildren on grandparents’ depression varied by country and how much care was being given.

Dr Yazhen Yang, along with Professor Maria Evandrou and Professor Athina Vlachantoni, examined differences in the effect of grandparenting on older persons’ depression in England, Europe and China.

Compared to other countries, people aged 50 or above in Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, Austria and England reported significantly lower depression scores. By contrast, people in China, Italy, Spain, Estonia and France reported significantly higher depression scores compared to those in other countries.

In all countries, women had higher depression scores than men. In countries with relatively lower incomes including China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Spain and Slovenia, transitioning to grandparenthood reduced the depression score among both men and women.

For countries with relatively higher incomes, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, France and England, becoming a grandparent increased the depression score among both men and women.

The gender difference in the effect of becoming a grandparent on depression is also associated with the country’s income level; the difference between the predicted depression score for men and women is larger in lower income countries. While in higher income countries the gap between male and female depression scores is smaller. Therefore, gender is less important in predicted depression scores in higher income countries.

Dr Yang also investigated the importance of intensity of grandchild caring. The findings suggest that both intensive caring (more than 40 hours per week) and non-intensive caring (less than 40 hours per week) provide a protective effect for depression in grandparents. Both grandfathers and grandmothers benefited, but country matters; compared to grandfathers who did not provide any grandchild care, grandfathers who provided non-intensive care in China and Sweden were less likely to report depressive symptoms, as were grandfathers who provided a lot of care in Italy. In China, Denmark and Sweden, grandmothers who provided non-intensive care were less likely to report depressive symptoms compared to their counterparts who provided no care. In Italy, Spain, Sweden and Denmark grandmothers who provided intensive care were also less likely to have depressive symptoms.

In conclusion, becoming a grandparent has a protective effect against depression among grandparents in relatively lower income countries such as China, Czech Republic, Estonia, Italy, Spain and Slovenia. By contrast, becoming a grandparent increases depressive symptoms in countries with relatively higher incomes, such as Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden, Belgium, France and England.

Providing non-intensive grandchild care is beneficial for grandparents’ depressive symptoms in China and Sweden, whilst providing intensive grandchild care reduces the depressive symptoms among grandmothers in Italy, Spain, Sweden and Denmark.

Dr Yang commented:

Policy decision makers need to be aware of the increasing importance of grandparents in providing childcare for their grandchildren. Family and other policies involving older people need to take into account the impact of grandparenting on grandparents’ health. Higher income countries in particular should investigate policy instruments that might buffer the negative impact of becoming a grandparent.

Further reading

Being a grandparent and depression: how does it differ across England, Europe and China? (CPC Policy Briefing 62)

The impact of grandparenting on late-life depression in England, Europe and China (CPC webinar, YouTube)