Grandparents who babysit live longer than those who don’t
A study has found that older people who provide care for others on a semi-regular basis will likely live longer than those who don’t. Researchers from the University of Western Australia partnered with others from the University of Basel, Edith Cowan University, the Humboldt University of Berlin, and the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin to look at the survival rates of grandparents who cared for their grandchildren.
Using data from the Berlin Aging Study collected between 1990 and 2009, the international team analysed over 500 people aged between 70 and 103. Their research showed that grandparents who care for their grandchildren live longer on average than those grandparents who don’t. Unlike with similar studies in the past, this one did not include those grandparents who were the primary caregivers, instead focusing on grandparents who provided occasional childcare. Those who don’t have grandchildren will be interested to know that the study also took into account adults who did not have children or grandchildren, but who provided care for others within their social network.
The results showed that half of the grandparents who provided care were still alive ten years after their initial interview – regardless of whether this care was given to grandchildren, or by helping out with housework for adult children. Of those who did not provide care for others, about half had died within the first five years of the study. Those who didn’t have children, but who helped others within their social network typically lived another seven years after the study began, while those who didn’t provide support to others lived only another four years on average.
Helping others too much can, however, be detrimental to one’s own health. Ralph Hertwig, Director of the Center for Adaptive Rationality at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development cautioned, “previous studies have shown that more intense involvement causes stress, which has negative effects on physical and mental health.”
The results are thought to point to prosocial behaviour having its roots in the family. Sonja Hilbrand from the Department of Psychology at the University of Basel stated, “It seems plausible that the development of parents’ and grandparents’ prosocial behaviour toward their kin left its imprint on the human body in terms of a neural and hormonal system”. Hilbrand goes on to explain that this system is potentially responsible for the evolution of “cooperation and altruistic behaviour towards non-kin”.
Do you look after your grandchildren? And if you don’t have any grandies, do you support others in your community?
Related links:
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The new grandparenting handbook
Grandfather learns to draw to connect with grandchildren