Worrying Across the Generations: The Impact of Adult Grandchildren’s Problems on Grandparents’ Well-Being

ObjectivesThe intergenerational stake hypothesis and theories of the life course posit that older generations are invested in the well-being of younger generations. Consistent with this, previous research has shown that adult children’s problems are associated with worse parental well-being. Because multigenerational ties have become increasingly important in the 21st century, we propose that adult grandchildren’s problems may also impact grandparents’ well-being. In this paper, we test this hypothesis and investigate the moderating effects of grandparents’ race and maternal/paternal status.MethodsThe analytic sample includes 206 grandparents aged 65–95 who participated in the second wave of the Family Exchanges Study. Adult grandchildren’s problems were operationalized as the proportions of adult grandchildren who experienced (1) physical–emotional problems and (2) lifestyle–behavioral problems.ResultsMain effects multilevel analyses suggested that adult grandchildren’s problems did not predict grandparents’ well-being. However, moderation analyses revealed that the association between grandparents’ depressive symptoms and adult grandchildren’s physical–emotional problems was larger among Black than White grandparents, and maternal than paternal grandparents. Adult grandchildren’s lifestyle–behavioral problems did not predict grandparents’ depression, and these effects were not conditioned by race or maternal/paternal status.DiscussionThese findings expand research on the importance of grandparent–adult grandchild relationships and contribute to research on multigenerational relationships and health by considering how problems experienced by members of younger generations affect the psychological well-being of older adults.