Benefits of Grandparental Caregiving in Chinese Older Adults: Reduced Lonely Dissatisfaction as a Mediator
Benefits of Grandparental Caregiving in Chinese Older Adults: Reduced Lonely Dissatisfaction as a Mediator
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祖父母照顾对中国老年人的好处：作为调解者减少孤独不满
DOI：
10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01719
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发表时间：
2020-07-24
影响因子：
3.8
通讯作者：
Zhang, Xin
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chang, Yuanqing;Li, Yin;Zhang, Xin
目的本研究的目的有两个：（1）调查那些提供祖父母照顾的人和那些不提供祖父母照顾的人在身心健康方面的差异;（2）探讨祖父母照顾与健康相关结果之间的联系机制。方法两项研究（横断面和短期纵向随访）进行。这项横断面研究（研究1）调查了148名提供祖父母照顾的老年人和另外150名没有提供祖父母照顾的老年人。一项小型纵向随访研究（研究2）在从研究1中随机选择的102名老年人中进行，其中52名老年人提供祖父母照顾，另外50名老年人不提供祖父母照顾。两项研究均测量了健康状况（SF-36测量）、孤独不满（PGC-MS孤独不满子量表测量）和认知功能（WAIS子量表测量）以及人口统计学。结果横断面和纵向研究结果均显示，与不提供祖父母照顾的老年人相比，提供祖父母照顾的老年人身心健康状况显著改善，孤独感和不满足感显著降低。进一步的路径分析表明，孤独的不满介导之间的关联提供祖父母照顾和功能的增强，这样，提供祖父母照顾可以减少孤独的不满，这反过来，可以改善他们的身心健康，即使在控制他们的认知功能。讨论这些结果表明，提供祖父母照顾可以通过减少孤独的不满，改善老年人的身心健康。
Objective The purpose of the present study is twofold: (1) to investigate the differences in terms of physical and mental health between those who provide grandparental care and those who do not and (2) to explore the mechanism that connects grandparental caregiving and health-related outcomes. Methods Two studies (a cross-sectional and a short-term longitudinal follow-up) were conducted. The cross-sectional study (Study 1) examined 148 older adults who provided grandparental care and another 150 older adults who did not. A small longitudinal follow-up study (Study 2) was conducted among 102 older adults randomly selected from Study 1, of which 52 were older adults who provided grandparental care, and another 50 older adults were those who did not. Health status (measured by SF-36), lonely dissatisfaction (measured by Lonely Dissatisfaction Subscale of PGC-MS), and cognitive functions (measured by subscales of WAIS) as well as demographics were measured in both studies. Results Results of both the cross-sectional and longitudinal studies showed that, compared with older adults who did not provide grandparental care, those providing grandparental care had significantly better physical and mental health as well as reduced lonely dissatisfaction. Further path analysis showed that lonely dissatisfaction mediated the association between providing grandparental care and enhancement in functions such that providing grandparental care could reduce lonely dissatisfaction, which, in turn, could improve their physical and mental health even after controlling for their cognitive functions. Discussion These results suggest that providing grandparental care can improve older adults’ physical and mental health through reduced lonely dissatisfaction.