Grandparenting and mortality: How does race-ethnicity matter?
Abstract
Little is known about whether and how intergenerational relationships influence older adult mortality. This study examines the association between caring for grandchildren (i.e., grandparenting) and mortality and how the link differs by race-ethnicity. Drawing from the Health and Retirement Study (1998-2014, N = 13,705), I found different racial-ethnic patterns in the effects of grandparenting on mortality risk. White grandparents who provide intensive noncoresident grandparenting (i.e., over 500 hours of babysitting per two years) and multigenerational household grandparenting have a lower risk of mortality compared to noncaregiving grandparents. In contrast, black grandparents have a higher mortality risk than their noncaregiving counterparts when providing intensive noncoresident, multigenerational household, and skipped-generation household (i.e., grandparent-headed family) grandparenting. Caregiving Hispanic grandparents are not significantly different from their noncaregiving counterparts in mortality risk. These findings suggest that important variations in social and cultural contexts for racial-ethnic groups shape the consequences of grandparenting for older adult mortality.
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Grandparent caregivers report poorer self-rated health, increased functional impairment, exacerbation of chronic illness, and higher viral illness transmission compared to non-caregivers.
“Grandparent caregivers—many managing chronic conditions (Boersma et al., 2020)—report poorer self-rated health, increased functional impairment, exacerbation of chronic illness, and higher viral illness transmission compared to non-caregivers (Choi, 2020; Danielsbacka et al., 2022; Grinstead et al., 2003; Minkler & Fuller-Thomson, 1999).”
From Grandparent Caregiving and Epigenetic Aging among Midlife and Older Adults in the United States (2026) · cites this paper as Choi, 2020
Cites
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“The role strain theory argues that managing multiple role obligations results in a strain on individuals and that limited resources (e.g., time, goods, emotional capacity, etc.) exacerbate the difficulty (Goode 1960).”
BackgroundGender Differences in Caregiver Stressors, Social Resources, and Health: An Updated Meta-Analysis
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Effects of Retirement and Grandchild Care on Depressive Symptoms
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“While performing an active grandparental role, older adults are more likely to be physically active and have feelings of reward, life satisfaction, and purpose (King, Rejeski, and Buchner 1998; Pruchno and McKenney 2002; Rozario, Morrow-Howell, and Hinterlong 2004; Szinovacz and Davey 2006).”
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Chan, A. C. Y., Lee, S.-K., Zhang, J., Banegas, J., Marsalis, S., & Gewirtz, A. H. (2023) · The gerontologist · doi:10.1093/geront/gnac026 · Cited by 65 · see citing works
Sneed, R. S., & Chan, A. C. Y. (2023) · Current Epidemiology Reports · doi:10.1007/s40471-023-00319-x · Cited by 15 · see citing works
Grandparent Caregiving and Epigenetic Aging among Midlife and Older Adults in the United States
Bhat, A. C., Trexberg, K. M., Apsley, A. T., Almeida, D. M., & Shalev, I. (2026) · The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences · doi:10.1093/geronb/gbaf255 · Cited by 2 · see citing works
“…conditions (Boersma et al., 2020)—report poorer self-rated health, increased functional impairment, exacerbation of chronic illness, and higher viral illness transmission compared to non-caregivers (Choi, 2020; Danielsbacka et al., 2022; Grinstead et al., 2003; Min-kler & Fuller-Thomson, 1999).”
- Authors
- Choi, S.-W. E.
- Affiliations
- Texas Tech University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Choi, Seung-won Emily
- Venue
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2020-02-13
- Volume
- 61
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 96-112
- ISSN
- 0022-1465 (ISSN-L)
- 2150-6000
- OpenAlex
- W3005827877
- Cited by
- 27
- References
- 4
- Citations by year
- 2026: 2 · 2025: 5 · 2024: 5 · 2023: 5 · 2022: 5 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1
- FWCI
- 5.01
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Journal of Health and Social Behavior (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Intergenerational Family Dynamics and Caregiving
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Neuropsychology and Physiological Psychology › Aging and Gerontology Research
- Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
- Keywords
- grandparenting, racial and ethnic differences, intergenerational relations, multigenerational families, grandparent-headed families, sociocultural context
- MeSH terms
- Grandparents, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Black or African American, Child, Child Care, Ethnicity, Health Status, Hispanic or Latino, Humans, Middle Aged, Minority Groups, Mortality, Surveys and Questionnaires, United States, Intergenerational Relations, White People
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