It's Official, Being A Grandparent Is Good News For Your Brain – Study
The topic of whether grandparents should be paid to look after their grandkids remains fiercely divisive, but it seems like there might be another big pay-off for those who do spend time looking after theirs.
A new study has suggested looking after grandchildren can help prevent cognitive decline in later life.
It’s good news for the estimated 48% of grandparents who look after their grandchildren during the working week (per a survey from SunLife).
What did the study find?
Researchers analysed data from 2,887 grandparents (all older than 50, with a mean age of 67) who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing.
Participants answered survey questions and completed cognitive tests three times between 2016 and 2022.
The survey asked whether participants had provided care for a grandchild at any point in the past year, as well as detailed questions about how frequently they provided care and what kinds of care they provided.
This included watching grandchildren overnight, caring for ill grandchildren, playing or engaging in leisure activities, helping with homework, driving grandchildren to school and activities, preparing meals and more.
The researchers found that grandparents who provided childcare scored higher on tests of both memory and verbal fluency compared with those who didn’t, even after adjusting for age, health and other factors.
And this held true regardless of the frequency and type of care the grandparents provided.
The study, published in the journal Psychology and Aging, also found it doesn’t matter how often you look after your grandkids – even the odd babysitting stint seems to be effective.
“What stood out most to us was that being a caregiving grandparent seemed to matter more for cognitive functioning than how often grandparents provided care or what exactly they did with their grandchildren,” said lead researcher Flavia Chereches of Tilburg University.
She added that providing care voluntarily, within a supportive family environment, “may have different effects for grandparents than caregiving in a more stressful environment where they feel unsupported or feel that the caregiving is not voluntary or a burden”, so further research is needed.
Any other health benefits linked to being a grandparent?
Yes! Studies suggest being a grandparent is associated with reduced loneliness, higher happiness levels, increased physical activity (linked with healthier ageing) and higher cognitive functioning (with a stronger effect for women).