TY - JOUR
T1 - Supplementary grandchild care, social integration, and depressive symptoms
T2 - longitudinal findings from Korea
AU - Choi, Jieun
AU - Jun, Hey Jung
AU - Kim, Hyoun K.
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2021
Y1 - 2021
N2 - Objectives: Despite growing concerns about the heavy reliance on supplementary grandchild care in Korea, understanding of its longitudinal effects on the grandparents’ mental health has been limited. This study examined whether transition patterns of grandchild care among Korean grandparents were associated with changes in the grandparents’ depressive symptoms, directly or indirectly, through changes in two domains of social integration (intergenerational contact and social activities) after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics and baseline levels of depressive symptoms and social integration. Method: Using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (N = 4,362), a nationally representative multiwave survey, we examined four possible statuses of grandchild care over a three-year period: started (n = 64), continuous (n = 73), and discontinued (n = 103) caregiving, and non-caregiving (n = 4,121). The proposed mediation model was analyzed using structural equation modeling with non-caregivers as a reference group, and Wald tests were conducted to further examine differences in the effects across the three caregiving groups. Results: The direct effects of grandchild care on depressive symptoms in Korean grandparents were not significant. Rather, those who started or continuously provided caregiving had significantly reduced depressive symptoms via increased intergenerational contact compared to the non-caregiving group. Conclusion: These findings indicated beneficial effects of grandchild care on depressive symptoms in Korean grandparents through increased social integration within the family. Implications of the study findings were discussed.
AB - Objectives: Despite growing concerns about the heavy reliance on supplementary grandchild care in Korea, understanding of its longitudinal effects on the grandparents’ mental health has been limited. This study examined whether transition patterns of grandchild care among Korean grandparents were associated with changes in the grandparents’ depressive symptoms, directly or indirectly, through changes in two domains of social integration (intergenerational contact and social activities) after controlling for socioeconomic characteristics and baseline levels of depressive symptoms and social integration. Method: Using the Korean Longitudinal Study of Aging (N = 4,362), a nationally representative multiwave survey, we examined four possible statuses of grandchild care over a three-year period: started (n = 64), continuous (n = 73), and discontinued (n = 103) caregiving, and non-caregiving (n = 4,121). The proposed mediation model was analyzed using structural equation modeling with non-caregivers as a reference group, and Wald tests were conducted to further examine differences in the effects across the three caregiving groups. Results: The direct effects of grandchild care on depressive symptoms in Korean grandparents were not significant. Rather, those who started or continuously provided caregiving had significantly reduced depressive symptoms via increased intergenerational contact compared to the non-caregiving group. Conclusion: These findings indicated beneficial effects of grandchild care on depressive symptoms in Korean grandparents through increased social integration within the family. Implications of the study findings were discussed.
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U2 - 10.1080/13607863.2019.1673307
DO - 10.1080/13607863.2019.1673307
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85074429139
VL - 25
SP - 78
EP - 85
JO - Aging and Mental Health
JF - Aging and Mental Health
SN - 1360-7863
IS - 1
ER -