Effects of Social Support and Volunteering on Depression Among Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

Abstract

Guided by a stress-buffering model, this study examined the effect of the caregiver stress on depressive symptoms, specifically the moderating effects of social support and volunteering on the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms among grandparent caregivers. The 2010 Health and Retirement Survey included a sample of 1,973 grandparent caregivers who reported their stress scores. Findings suggest that positive social support and volunteering significantly moderated the relationship between stress and depressive symptoms. In particular, the study revealed that perceived quality of relations may help grandparent caregivers cope with their ongoing stress and enlarged social interaction may buffer the increase of negative stressor outcomes.

The Impact of Living Alone and Intergenerational Support on Depressive Symptoms Among Older Mexican Americans: Does Gender Matter?

“…Although older women were more likely to provide or receive intergenerational support than older men, which is consistent with previous studies (Hill et al., 2016; Jang & Tang, 2016; Li et al., 2009), none of these intergenerational support dimensions was associated with depressive symptoms in older women. Because of their traditional kin-keeper and caregiver roles in Mexican American families, older women may protect themselves and their adult children from being stressed out through providing to and receiving from adult children.…”

Can Volunteering Buffer the Negative Impacts of Unemployment and Economic Inactivity on Mental Health? Longitudinal Evidence from the United Kingdom

“…Therefore, people cannot benefit from the buffering effects of volunteering unless they participate in volunteering at least once per month. It is also worth noting that most of the current findings on the buffering role of volunteering are focused on the elder group [ 9 , 11 , 12 ], while they might not be able to keep a stable high frequency of engaging in volunteering due to limited energy and physical strength. Hence, it is necessary to explore how to promote some particular pathways of volunteering for the elderly.…”

“…Several limitations lead to these inconsistent findings in the previous studies. First, the majority of previous studies remain narrow in scope, focusing exclusively on the older age sample [ 9 , 11 , 12 , 13 ] while ignoring the working-age population. Moreover, there is a lack of discussion regarding the potential buffering benefits of volunteering for protecting the mental health of the economically inactive group and its subgroups.…”

Process-Outcome Relationships and Solution-Based Goal-Setting Interventions With Grandparent Caregivers

“…These selected goals focused on how to improve their well-being, their relationship with their grandchild and how to obtain information about community resources and support. Indeed, as social support has been demonstrated to be essential to the well-being of grandparent caregivers (Gerard et al, 2006;Jang & Tang, 2016), acquiring skills to access such support and help are important. Throughout the program, grandparents completed weekly homework to practice and apply their understanding of how to use effective solution-oriented strategies, where the emphasis was on the identification and implementation of personally meaningful goals and being solution-oriented to improve one's personal well-being and adjustment, one's relationship with grandchildren, and access to needed support, information, and services.…”