Decision Editor: Merril Silverstein, PhD Impact of Caring for Grandchildren on the Health of Grandparents in Taiwan

Objectives. To understand how caring for grandchildren affects the physical and mental health of grandparents in Taiwan. Method. Grandparents aged 50 and older from 4 waves of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (1993–2003, n = 3,711) were divided into 7 categories based on living arrangement and caregiving history. Generalized estimation equa-tions controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and disease status were used to estimate the relationship between caregiving and 4 outcomes: self-rated physical health, mobility limitation, life satisfaction, and depressive symptoms. Results. Compared with noncaregivers, long-term multigenerational caregivers were more likely to report better self-rated health, higher life satisfaction, and fewer depressive symptoms. We found some evidence of reduced mobility limitations for both skipped-generation and nonresidential caregivers relative to noncaregivers. The associations in self-rated health and depressive symptoms were more pronounced in long-term caregivers than among those who recently started caregiving