Grandmothers in the “sandwich generation” are considered as those women who are potential caregivers for two generations: older relatives and grandchildren. With the goal of understanding the factors that affect their stress and health, 149 women from southwestern Spain were interviewed using an ad hoc questionnaire that included standardized scales and subscales. The results showed that age, coping strategies based on emotional support and acceptance, as well as optimism and social support improved the health of these women by reducing their perceived stress. Although caring for older relatives is related to family conflicts and worse health, conversely, caring for grandchildren is related to slightly better health. The results are useful for planning psychological interventions with these women and highlight the need to include family interventions.

The progressive increase in life expectancy and the verticalization of the family mean that the provision of family care can be stressful and risky for the health of grandmothers who act as caregivers. One hundred and twenty grandmothers were interviewed in southwest Spain; they were daughters of a generation still characterized by high levels of dependence. A questionnaire with standardized psychological scales and items specifically designed for the study was used. Results showed that the burden of the instrumental and economic support had a detrimental effect on their health through stress, which in turn increased when they used coping strategies of denial and selfblame, and decreased with acceptance of reality and when they sought emotional support.

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Despite the increasing importance of grandparents in raising their grandchildren, few studies analyze the impact that these intergenerational relationships have on the grandchildren, especially during adolescence. With a sample of 3432 adolescents between 11 years and 16 years old, we analyze to what degree grandparent affection explains adolescent emotional well-being. The results reveal interesting findings according to family type: traditional two-parent families, families with joint custody, or families with only one biological parent (specifying between father or mother). Lastly, we analyze and discuss the implications of the relevant results related to the grandparents’ sex, lineage, and state of health, the adolescent’s age, as well as finding a higher impact of grandparent affection has on adolescents from families with only the father as a reference figure. This study advocates for reinforcing the role of the grandparents during adolescence, becoming especially relevant for boys and girls living in father-only families.

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