The Impact of Caring for Grandchildren on Depression for Older Adults in Korea: The Moderating Effects of Health and Income (WITHDRAWN)

The purpose of this study is to investigate effect of caring for grandchildren on depression for older adults in Korea. This study considers role enhancement and role strain theory as complementarity hypotheses and hypothesizes that the effect of caring for grandchildren on depression for older adults depends by the level of health and income.

Analyses were based on data from the 2010(Time 1; T1) and 2012(Time 2; T2) waves of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing(KLoSA). This study used an analytic sample of 5,018 older adults who are aged 49 through 85 and had one or more grandchild, in order to examine how (1) caring for grandchildren at an earlier time point(T2, 2011 October - 2012 September) affects older adults’ depression at a later time point(T2, 2012 September), controlling for the outcomes at T1. Also This study investigated (2) whether the level of health (perceived health status, the number of chronic health conditions) and income moderated the effect of caring for grandchildren on older adults’ depression. This study used multivariate regression models (lagged effect models) controlling for older adults’ depression at time 1(T1), including interaction terms.

The results showed that the effect of caring for grandchildren on older adults’ depression was not significant. Whereas the effect of taking care of grandchildren on depression level of grandparents was significantly moderated by perceived health status and the number of chronic health conditions, that was not significantly moderated by income level of older adults.

These findings enhance our understanding of older adults caring for grandchildren. The results of this study indicate that older adults caring for grandchildren are not one group. They differ by level of health, but not by income level of them. So there should be support for older adults taking care of grandchildren with weak health conditions to prevent their depression.