Helping to care for grandchildren may help protect older adults from cognitive decline, according to research published by the American Psychological Association. The findings suggest that staying involved in caregiving roles could support memory and thinking skills later in life.

“Many grandparents provide regular care for their grandchildren – care that supports families and society more broadly,” said lead researcher Flavia Chereches, MS, of Tilburg University in the Netherlands. “An open question, however, is whether caregiving for grandchildren may also benefit grandparents themselves. In this research, we wanted to see if providing grandchild care might benefit grandparents’ health, potentially slowing down cognitive decline.”

The research was published in the journal Psychology and Aging.

Study Design and Participants

To explore this question, Chereches and her colleagues analyzed data from 2,887 grandparents who took part in the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing. All participants were over age 50, with a mean age of 67. Each person completed surveys and cognitive assessments on three occasions between 2016 and 2022.

Participants were asked whether they had cared for a grandchild at any point during the previous year. The survey also collected detailed information about how often grandparents provided care and the types of activities involved.

Types of Care Included

Caregiving activities covered a wide range of responsibilities. These included watching grandchildren overnight, caring for sick grandchildren, playing or taking part in leisure activities, helping with homework, driving grandchildren to school or other activities, preparing meals, and similar forms of support.

When the researchers compared test results, grandparents who provided childcare scored higher on measures of memory and verbal fluency than those who did not. These differences remained even after accounting for age, overall health, and other relevant factors. The pattern was consistent regardless of how frequently grandparents provided care or which types of caregiving activities they performed.

Differences Observed Among Grandmothers

The study also showed that grandmothers who helped care for their grandchildren experienced less cognitive decline over time than grandmothers who did not provide care.

“What stood out most to us was that being a caregiving grandparent seemed to matter more for cognitive functioning than how often grandparents provided care or what exactly they did with their grandchildren,” said Chereches. “More research is needed to replicate these findings, yet, if there are benefits associated with caregiving for grandparents, they might not depend on how often care is provided, or on the specific activities done with grandchildren, but rather on the broader experience of being involved with caregiving.”

Why Family Environment May Matter

Chereches noted that additional research is needed to better understand how family dynamics and other factors influence these outcomes. The circumstances surrounding caregiving may play an important role.

“Providing care voluntarily, within a supportive family environment, may have different effects for grandparents than caregiving in a more stressful environment where they feel unsupported or feel that the caregiving is not voluntary or a burden.”