Overview
- Researchers analyzed English Longitudinal Study of Ageing data from 2,887 adults aged 50 and over, with a mean age of 67, assessed three times between 2016 and 2022.
- Grandparents who provided care scored higher on memory and verbal-fluency tests than non-caregivers after adjusting for age, health, and other factors.
- The apparent benefit did not depend on how often care was given or on the specific activities performed with grandchildren.
- The association was stronger for grandmothers, who showed less decline on cognitive measures over the study period.
- The authors emphasize that causality is not established and call for replication and research into contextual factors such as voluntariness, family support, stress, and caregiving intensity.