Psychiatry Investig.  2019 Aug;16(8):625-628. 10.30773/pi.2019.06.06.

Suicidal Ideation of the Elderly According to Their Involvement in Grandchild Care

• Lee J
• Lee A
• Lee D
• Jung HY
• Kim SG
• Lee SI

• KMID: 2456174
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.30773/pi.2019.06.06

Abstract

The purpose of the present study was to examine the severity of suicidal ideation of the older adults according to the amount of involvement in grandchild care. Data for this research were drawn from a cross-sectional study conducted on community-dwelling adults aged 65 years or older. The 922 participants were divided into three groups according to their involvement in grandchild care: 18.5% had provided daily care, 12.4% had provided occasional care, and 69.1% had never cared for their grandchildren. ANCOVA analysis showed that the scores for depression was significantly lower in the group which took care of their grandchildren occasionally compared to the other two groups. The scores for suicidal ideation was significantly higher in the group which had never taken care of their grandchildren compared to the other two groups. Current study suggests that grandparenting may have a positive effect on suicidal ideation of the older adults.

Keyword

Suicidal ideation; Older adults; Grandchild care; Grandparenting

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged*
Cross-Sectional Studies
Depression
Humans
Suicidal Ideation*