Grandparenting and psychosocial health among older Chileans: A longitudinal analysis

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of grandparents at baseline, 2005.

	Grandfathers		Grandmothers
	(%)/Mean (SD)	N	(%)/Mean (SD)	N
Provision of help to grandchildren		608		1264
None	21.55		22.63
Money/things they need only	3.78		3.88
Time only: 0 > 4 hours per week	6.91		6.80
Time only: 4+ hours per week	12.34		16.53
Money + 0 > 4 hours help per week	19.41		11.63
Money + 4 + hours help per week	36.02		38.53
All providing help with money*	59.21		54.04
All providing 0 > 4 hours help per week***	26.33		18.43
All providing 4 + hours help per week**	48.36		55.06
Grandchild characteristics		608		1264
Number of grandchildren***	6.92 (5.18)	605	8.15 (6.33)	1249
Age group of youngest***		608		1264
0–4	54.77		45.81
5–10	26.48		30.62
11+	7.57		11.87
Not known	11.18		11.71
Household type*		608		1264
Alone or with spouse only	29.77		24.84
With other relatives (+/− partner), not including grandchild	32.73		32.52
With other relatives (+/− partner), including grandchild	37.50		42.64
Married/partner***	85.86		56.96
Education (years)***		608		1264
<6 (incl. not known) (Low)	25.66		36.31
6–8 (Mid)	41.45		39.72
9+ (High)	32.89		23.97
Other activities		608		1263
Has paid work***	51.81		27.16
Has community work**	32.40		40.66
Functional limitations***		608		1264
5 or more (High)	29.11		54.11
2–4 (Mid)	22.70		24.53
0–2 (Low)	48.19		21.36
Notes: Difference between grandfathers and grandmothers.
***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p > 0.05.

Table 2. Indicators of mental well-being at baseline (2005) and follow-up (2007).

	Grandfathers			Grandmothers
	Baseline, whole sample	Baseline, those in follow-up	Follow-up	Baseline, whole sample	Baseline, those in follow-up	Follow-up
Life satisfaction score	(N = 607)	(N = 465)	(N = 465)	(N = 1263)	(N = 1081)	(N = 1081)
Negative (%)	10.54	9.89	12.69	12.98	13.04	16.74
Neutral(%)	30.31	28.17	30.54	27.08	27.10	29.88
Positive(%)	59.14	61.94	56.77	59.94	59.85	53.38
SF-36: mental component score	(N = 603)	(N = 464)	(N = 464)	(N = 1255)	(N = 1072)	(N = 1072)
Mean (SD)	52.84 (7.48)	53.29 (7.01)	53.21 (7.28)	48.62 (8.41)	48.83 (8.34)	48.67 (8.57)
GDS score	(N = 600)	(N = 461)	(N = 461)	1255	(N = 1073)	(N = 1073)
0–4(%)	78.00	80.26	78.74	64.46	65.80	63.56
5–9(%)	15.67	14.53	14.10	22.63	21.71	20.97
10 + (%)	6.33	5.21	7.16	12.91	12.49	15.47
Notes: Difference between grandfathers and grandmothers in follow-up sample.
Life satisfaction: p > 0.05; SF-MCS: p < 0.001; GDS score: p < 0.001.

Table 3. Results from mixed effects ordinal regression models of hours of help provided to grandchildren at baseline.

		Grandfathers						Grandmothers
		Model 1			Model 2			Model 1			Model 2
		β	95% CI		β	95% CI		β	95% CI		β	95% CI
Number of grandchildren		−0.05**	−0.08	−0.01	−0.04**	−0.07	−0.01	−0.01	−0.03	0.01	−0.01	−0.03	0.01
Age youngest grandchild	5−10	−0.48*	−0.87	−0.08	−0.52**	−0.89	−0.14	−0.43**	−0.75	−0.11	−0.43**	−0.74	−0.12
	11+	−1.21***	−1.83	−0.59	−1.17***	−1.74	−0.60	−1.24***	−1.62	−0.85	−1.24***	−1.64	−0.85
	Not known	−1.09***	−1.50	−0.68	−1.14***	−1.54	−0.73	−0.64**	−1.08	−0.21	−0.66**	−1.09	−0.24
Household type	With others, not with grandchild	−0.16	−0.45	0.13	−0.14	−0.45	0.17	−0.09	−0.36	0.18	−0.10	−0.37	0.17
	With others, including grandchild	1.67***	1.31	2.04	1.70***	1.33	2.08	2.07***	1.74	2.41	2.07***	1.75	2.40
Marital status	Married	0.44	0.00	0.87	0.42	−0.03	0.87	0.38**	0.10	0.62	0.35*	0.08	0.63
Education	Mid				0.05	−0.27	0.38				0.10	−0.28	0.48
	High				0.27	−0.07	0.61				0.09	−0.21	0.39
Paid work	Yes				−0.37	−0.85	0.12				0.14	−0.03	0.31
Community work	Yes				0.11	−0.31	0.52				0.04	−0.30	0.38
Functional limitations	Mid				−0.05	−0.41	0.31				0.06	−0.19	0.30
	Low				0.17	−0.22	0.56				−0.26	−0.50	−0.02
N		605			605			1248			1248
Notes: Reference categories: Youngest grandchild aged 0–4; lives alone or with spouse only; not married/partnered; low education (<6 years); no paid work; no community work; high functional limitation.
***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p > 0.05.

Table 4. Results from mixed effects logistic regression models of time help to grandchildren and life satisfaction at follow up.

Baseline variables		Grandfathers						Grandmothers
		Model 1			Model 3			Model 1			Model 3
		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI
Hours of help to grandchildren	0 > 4	1.36	0.81	2.29	1.21	0.69	2.13	0.70	0.48	1.02	0.73	0.48	1.09
	4+	1.99**	1.19	3.32	1.78*	1.02	3.13	0.78	0.56	1.08	0.81	0.56	1.17
Number of grandchildren		1.01	0.97	1.05	1.00	0.96	1.04	0.99	0.97	1.01	0.99	0.97	1.01
Age youngest grandchild	5–10	1.10	0.71	1.71	1.09	0.68	1.75	1.07	0.81	1.42	1.23	0.90	1.68
	11+	1.64	0.76	3.57	1.72	0.73	4.04	1.16	0.77	1.74	1.27	0.81	1.99
	Not known	1.67	0.83	3.33	1.63	0.77	3.46	1.05	0.67	1.63	1.15	0.70	1.88
Household composition	With others, not with grandchild	1.02	0.63	1.65	1.08	0.64	1.83	1.44*	1.04	2.01	1.71**	1.19	2.46
	With others, including grandchild	0.94	0.57	1.53	0.89	0.52	1.53	1.25	0.90	1.75	1.45*	1.01	2.10
Marital status	Married	1.17	0.65	2.08	1.23	0.71	2.12	10.7	0.84	1.38	1.00	0.76	1.32
Education	Mid				1.07	0.57	2.01				0.93	0.68	1.26
	High				1.08	0.64	1.80				0.75	0.52	1.07
Paid work	Has paid work				0.94	0.62	1.43				0.87	0.64	1.18
Community work	Has Community work				1.19	0.77	1.84				1.34*	1.02	1.76
Functional limitations	Mid				1.49	0.83	2.66				1.60**	1.16	2.21
	Low				1.46	0.90	2.38				2.38***	1.67	3.40
Life satisfaction	Neutral				2.58*	1.12	5.96				3.29***	1.95	5.54
	Positive				9.62**	4.32	21.43				10.40***	6.33	17.08
N					464			1068			1068
Notes: Reference categories: Youngest grandchild aged 0–4; lives alone or with spouse only; not married/partnered; low education (<6 years); no paid work; no community work; high functional limitation; life satisfaction negative.
***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p > 0.05.

Table 5. Results from mixed effects linear regression models of time help to grandchildren and SF36-MCS at follow up.

		Grandfathers						Grandmothers
		Model 1			Model 3			Model 1			Model 3
		β	95% CI		β	95% CI		β	95% CI		β	95% CI
Hours of help to grandchildren	0 > 4	2.40*	0.33	4.47	0.92	−0.56	2.41	−0.27	−2.08	1.54	0.59	−1.11	2.30
	4+	2.03	−0.51	4.57	1.07	−0.46	2.60	−0.22	−2.17	1.72	0.34	−1.03	1.71
Number of grandchildren		−0.06	−0.11	−0.29	−0.07	−0.22	0.10	−0.13**	−0.21	−0.05	−0.06	−0.13	0.01
Age youngest grandchild	5−10	−0.58	−2.86	−1.69	−0.20	−1.67	1.28	0.37	−1.20	1.93	0.85	−0.18	1.88
	11+	−0.32	−2.63	1.98	0.79	−0.75	2.33	−0.88	−2.46	0.69	−0.33	−1.50	0.84
	Not known	1.28	−1.79	4.53	1.56	−0.82	3.93	0.29	−2.01	2.58	0.70	−1.42	2.83
Household composition	With others, not with grandchild	0.60	−1.42	2.61	0.15	−1.36	1.66	1.03	−0.30	2.36	1.08	−0.07	2.23
	With others, including grandchild	0.78	−1.28	2.84	0.32	−1.45	2.10	−0.02	−2.05	2.02	0.02	−1.19	1.24
Marital status	Married	1.32	−0.91	3.54	1.15	−0.66	2.95	0.14	−1.00	1.29	−0.07	−1.00	0.85
Education	Mid				0.28	−1.42	1.98				0.55	−0.61	1.71
	High				1.05	−0.20	2.29				−0.11	−1.55	1.34
Paid work					−0.55	−1.62	0.52				−0.28	−1.33	0.76
Community work					0.74	−0.38	1.85				0.09	−0.92	1.10
Functional limitations	Mid				0.20	−1.60	2.00				1.26**	0.53	2.00
	Low				0.90	−0.35	2.14				3.06***	0.51	0.60
MCS					0.59***	0.47	0.70				0.56***	0.51	0.60
N		463			463						1059
Notes: Reference categories: Youngest grandchild aged 0−4; lives alone or with spouse only; not married/partnered; low education (<6 years); no paid work; no community work; high functional limitation.
***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p > 0.05.

Table 6. Results from mixed effects logistic regression models of time help to grandchildren and depression at follow up.

		Grandfathers						Grandmothers
		Model 1			Model 3			Model 1			Model 3
		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI		OR	95% CI
Hours of help to grandchildren (ref. None)	0>4	0.52*	0.27	0.98	0.59	0.28	1.24	0.91	0.62	1.35	0.66	0.42	1.04
	4+	0.53*	0.29	0.98	0.57	0.28	1.16	0.79	0.56	1.13	0.65*	0.44	0.98
Number of grandchildren		1.00	0.96	1.05	1.00	0.95	1.05	1.02*	1.01	1.05	1.01	0.98	1.03
Age youngest grandchild (ref.>5)	5–10	1.20	0.71	2.03	1.08	0.58	2.01	0.84	0.62	1.13	0.66*	0.47	0.94
	11+	1.29	0.54	3.09	1.24	0.44	3.50	0.81	0.52	1.24	0.61	0.37	1.01
	Not known	0.54	0.21	1.41	0.41	0.14	1.22	0.77	0.48	1.25	0.58	0.33	1.01
Household composition (ref. alone or just with spouse)	With others, not with grandchild	1.06	0.58	1.94	1.28	0.63	2.61	0.83	0.59	1.18	0.78	0.52	1.17
	With others, including grandchild	1.32	0.71	2.43	1.41	0.69	2.87	1.14	0.80	1.62	1.01	0.67	1.52
Marital status	Married	0.68	0.35	1.33	0.68	0.31	1.50	0.83	0.64	1.08	0.81	0.60	1.10
Education (ref. Low)	Mid				1.04	0.54	1.99				0.78	0.56	1.09
	High				0.58	0.28	1.22				0.73	0.49	1.10
Paid work	Has paid work				0.83	0.48	1.43				1.23	0.88	1.72
Community work	Has community work				0.99	0.55	1.76				0.88	0.65	1.19
Functional limitations	Mid				0.51	0.25	1.03				0.61**	0.43	0.88
	Low				0.37**	0.20	0.71				0.33***	0.22	0.51
GDS score	5–9				9.08***	4.77	17.28				4.09***	2.92	5.73
	10+				7.91***	2.85	22.00				15.99***	9.50	26.91
N		460			460
Notes: Reference categories: Youngest grandchild aged 0–4; lives alone or with spouse only; not married/partnered; low education (<6 years); no paid work; no community work; high functional limitation; GDS score 0–4.
***p < 0.001; **p < 0.01; *p > 0.05.

Table 7. Associations between provision of help with money or material goods and mental health outcomes at follow-up: Results from mixed effects regression models.

		Grandfathers			N	Grandmothers			N
		OR	95% CI			OR	95% CI
Life satisfaction	Model 1	1.45	0.98	2.16	457	0.81	0.62	1.05	982
	Model 2	1.59*	1.05	2.39		0.80	0.61	1.05
	Model 3	1.36	0.88	2.12		0.73*	0.54	0.97
		β				β
MCS	Model 1	1.12	−0.26	2.57	456	0.42	−0.52	1.36	973
	Model 2	1.40*	0.01	2.80		0.33	−0.60	1.25
	Model 3	1.03*	0.20	2.05		0.52	−0.34	1.39
		OR				OR
GDS	Model 1	0.86	0.52	1.37	453	0.92	0.70	1.20	975
	Model 2	0.70	0.41	1.17		0.96	0.72	1.28
	Model 3	0.69	0.39	1.23		0.98	0.71	1.36
Notes: Model 1: Controlling for number of grandchildren; age of youngest grandchild; household composition, marital status.
Model 2: Additionally controlling for educational status; functional health status, equivalised household income, paid work; community participation.
Model 3: Additionally controlling for baseline value of relevant mental health outcome.
*p > 0.05.