title: Intensity of grandparent caregiving and life satisfaction among rural Chinese older adults: a longitudinal study using latent difference score analysis.
abstract: This study examined how life satisfaction and grandparent caregiving intensity changed over time among rural Chinese older adults, and whether there was a leading predictor between grandparent caregiving intensity and life satisfaction. Using 4 waves of data from the Well-being of Elderly in Anhui Province of China (N = 1704), we applied latent difference score analysis to explore this relationship. Results indicated that grandparent caregiving intensity decreased and life satisfaction increased over time. There was a lagged effect between grandparent caregiving intensity and life satisfaction, and life satisfaction demonstrated a leading prediction role between these 2 variables. This study confirmed the potentially rewarding aspect of grandparent caregiving, which may lead to greater life satisfaction. The results also revealed that psychological well-being among grandparents is very important for performing activities, such as caregiving.
authors.affiliation: School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA. lingxu@usc.edu
authors.forename: Ling
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Xu
authors.forename: Bei
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.forename: Iris
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Chi
authors.forename: Hsin-Yi
authors.initials: HY
authors.lastname: Hsiao
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D044466:Asian People / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002681:China; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D015577:Geriatric Assessment; D006305:Health Status Indicators; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life; D012424:Rural Population / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires