Grandparenthood and Subjective Well-Being: Moderating Effects of Educational Level

Abstract

Objectives: Research on the influence of relationships with grandchildren on older adults' subjective well-being (SWB) has been sparse. Moreover, empirical results differ between studies. We examined whether grandparents' relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren were associated with four aspects of SWB among grandparents and contrasted the strength of these associations with parent-adult child relationships. As conceptual work on the topic emphasizes a moderating role of social inequality, we tested whether the association between relationship qualities with kin and grandparents' SWB differs between educational groups.

Method: We used data from the German Ageing Survey (N = 990; age, M = 74 years) and applied multi-group structural equation models.

Results: Relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren were associated with all four facets of SWB. The association of relationship quality and SWB was moderated by grandparents' educational level for negative aspects of SWB (i.e., loneliness and negative affect) only.

Discussion: Relationships with adolescent and adult grandchildren seem to generally boost positive aspects of SWB. The extent to which they may reduce negative aspects of SWB may be unequally distributed across educational groups. Less educated grandparents might be more exposed to and might be less able to cope with stressful aspects of grandparenthood than their better educated counterparts.

Keywords: German Ageing Survey; Grandparenthood; Social inequality; Social integration; Subjective well-being.