Grandparents who help care for their grandchildren tend to show stronger memory and language skills than those who don’t. The cognitive benefits appear to come from being involved as a caregiver, not from how often or how intensively they help.
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Helping care for grandchildren may help protect thinking and memory skills in older adults, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The findings suggest that staying involved as a caregiving grandparent could play a role in slowing age-related cognitive decline.
“Many grandparents provide regular care for their grandchildren – care that supports families and society more broadly,” said lead researcher Flavia Chereches, MS, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands. “An open question, however, is whether caregiving for grandchildren may also benefit grandparents themselves. In this research, we wanted to see if providing grandchild care might benefit grandparents’ health, potentially slowing down cognitive decline.”
The research was published today (January 26) in the journal Psychology and Aging.
Large Study of Older Grandparents
To explore this question, Chereches and her colleagues analyzed data from 2,887 grandparents who participated in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. All participants were over age 50, with an average age of 67. Each person completed surveys and cognitive assessments three times between 2016 and 2022.
Participants were asked whether they had cared for a grandchild at any point during the previous year. The survey also gathered detailed information about how often grandparents provided care and what that care involved.
Types of Grandchild Care Examined
The caregiving activities included a wide range of responsibilities, such as watching grandchildren overnight, caring for them when they were sick, playing games or spending time together, helping with homework, driving them to school or activities, preparing meals, and other forms of support.
When researchers compared cognitive test results, grandparents who provided childcare performed better on measures of memory and verbal fluency than those who did not. These differences remained even after accounting for age, physical health, and other influencing factors. The results were consistent regardless of how often grandparents provided care or which activities they performed.
Differences Seen Among Grandmothers
The study also found that grandmothers who helped care for their grandchildren experienced less decline in cognitive test scores over time compared with grandmothers who did not provide care.
“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 Chereches. “More research is needed to replicate these findings, yet, if there are benefits associated with caregiving for grandparents, they might not depend on how often care is provided, or on the specific activities done with grandchildren, but rather on the broader experience of being involved with caregiving.”
Why Family Context May Matter
Chereches emphasized that future studies should also examine how family circumstances shape these outcomes. She noted that the emotional and social context of caregiving could make an important difference.
“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.”
Chereches emphasized that future studies should also examine how family circumstances shape these outcomes. She noted that the emotional and social context of caregiving could make an important difference.
“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.”
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