Caring for a Grandchild Associated With Lower Loneliness Risk

Grandparents who didn't have an active caring role had higher average loneliness scores and were in regular contact with fewer people important to them, revealed new study.

A new research has suggested that caring for a grandchild was found to be linked to a lower risk of social isolation and loneliness. The research has been published in the online journal BMJ Open. Previously published research suggests that social //networks may be a key factor in health and wellbeing, particularly at older ages.

Grandparents are increasingly taking on the role of childcare, often in a supplementary role, to help out parents when other forms of care aren't available. But to date, most of the research on grandparenting has focused on those who act as surrogates and parent their grandchildren, and none has explored how grandparenting might affect the size of that individual's social network, with the potential implications for health and wellbeing.

Ways to Deal with Loneliness
All of us feel lonely at some point in our lives. It is important to know how to deal with loneliness, rise above it and beat depression.

To try and address this, the researchers drew on the information collected in wave 5 of the DEAS survey. This has been surveying a nationally representative sample of older German adults (40-85) every three years since 1996.

Wave 5 (2014) was the first time that respondents were asked questions designed to assess their feelings of loneliness and social isolation, using validated scales: a shortened version of the De Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale; and the Bude and Lantermann scale for social isolation.

Both scales ranged from 1 to 4, with 1 representing strong agreement and 4 representing strong disagreement with specific statements. Higher scores indicated a higher degree of perceived loneliness and social isolation.

Grandparents Turn a Blind Eye to Children's Screen Time
Many kids spend half their time watching videos or playing with apps when visiting grandparents, finds a new study.

Among the 3849 grandparents included in this wave of the survey, 1125 said they actively cared for a grandchild. Just over half of them were women and most were married and living with their spouse (80%).

After taking account of potentially influential factors, including marital status, domestic arrangements, household income, self rated health, physical activity levels and depressive symptoms, active grandparenting was associated with lower scores on loneliness and social isolation, and a larger social network.

Parents, Grandparents, and Schools Hold the Key to Unlocking China's Obesity Problem
Educating parents and grandparents and schools could hold the key to resolving China's obesity pandemic, according to one of the largest trials of childhood obesity prevention in the world.

Among the active grandparents, whose average age was 66, the average loneliness score was 1.7, and the average social isolation score was 1.6, while the average number of people with whom they were in regular contact was 6.

Grandparents who didn't have an active caring role had higher average loneliness scores (1.8) and were in regular contact with fewer people important to them (4-5, on average).

Grandparents Should Protect Their Grandchildren From Accidental Poisoning: Here's Why
Where do you store your medicine? Grandparents who keep their medicines in easy-to-reach places and easy-to-open containers often put their grandchildren at a higher risk of accidental poisoning or intentional misuse.

This is an observational study, and as such, can't establish cause. And it may be that grandparents who felt less lonely and isolated to start with might have been more likely to actively care for a grandchild, note the researchers.

What's more, the study didn't collect information on how near to their grandchildren grandparents lived, how often they provided care, or its quality, all of which might have influenced the findings.

But the researchers suggest: "Assisting their families to balance work and family by providing supplementary grandchild care may boost grandparents' self-esteem, and may also facilitate ongoing positive relationships with their children and grandchildren.

"Moreover, caring for grandchildren may also expand the social circle of grandparents and allow for further opportunities to establish relationships with other parents or grandparents."

But they also suggest that the positive impact might wear off if grandparents are called on too often to step in and care for a grandchild, especially if this interferes with other aspects of their lives.

Source-Eurekalert