Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jan;96(1):106-116.
doi: 10.1177/00914150221106726. Epub 2022 Jun 9.

Grandchildren as Caregivers: Adding a New Layer to the Sandwich Generation

Julie Hicks Patrick  1 , Laura E Bernstein  1 , Arianna Spaulding  1 , Bianca E Dominguez  1 , Carly E Pullen  1
Affiliations

Grandchildren as Caregivers: Adding a New Layer to the Sandwich Generation

Julie Hicks Patrick et al. Int J Aging Hum Dev. 2023 Jan.

Abstract

Although 10% of family caregivers are grandchildren, only a few studies have examined the experience of grandchildren who provide care to grandparents. The current study examined the caregiving processes and outcomes of grandchild caregivers to grandparents. Participants were (N = 5,778) adults identified as a caregiver, including 311 adult grandchildren. Analyses showed that although caregivers to grandparents did not differ significantly from other family caregivers in terms of depression, grandchildren did differ on a variety of demographic and caregiving context variables. A hierarchical binary logistic regression showed that providing personal care and helping with household tasks contribute to the equation, however, grandchild status did not uniquely contribute to the equation after other elements of the caregiving and personal contexts were entered. Post-hoc analyses identified additional predictors within the group of grandchild caregivers. The current study is an important starting point in understanding the experiences of grandchildren caregivers.

Keywords: ADAR; BRFSS; caregivers; depression; grandchildren.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared the following potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: As Editor of IJAHD, I asked an Associate Editor to facilitate this review (Abigail Nehrkorn-Bailey).

References

    1. Celdrán M, Triadó C, & Villar F (2011). “My grandparent has dementia” how adolescents perceive their relationship with grandparents with a cognitive impairment. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 30(3), 332–352. 10.1177/0733464810368402 - DOI
    1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (2022). BRFSS. Accessed online Feb. 12, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/brfss/index.html.
    1. D’Amen B, Socci M, Di Rosa M, Casu G, Boccaletti L, Hanson E, & Santini S (2022). Italian Adolescent young caregivers of grandparents: Difficulties experienced and support needed in intergenerational care-giving: Qualitative findings from a European Union funded project. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19(1), 103. 10.3390/ijerph19010103 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dellmann-Jenkins M, & Blankemeyer M (2009). Emerging and young adulthood and caregiving. In Shifren K (Ed.), How caregiving affects development: Psychological implications for child, adolescent, and adult caregivers (pp. 93–116). American Psychological Association.
    1. Dellmann-Jenkins M, Blankemeyer M, & Pinkard O (2001). Incorporating the elder caregiving role into the developmental tasks of young adulthood. The International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 52(1), 1–18. 10.2190/FGQA-65FU-JGNT-6C9J - DOI - PubMed

Publication types