Longitudinal Correlates of Grandparenting with Depressive Symptoms and Poor Sleep Quality Among Middle-Aged and Older Women and Men in South Africa

Objectives: The study aimed to assess the impact of grandparenting on incident depressive symptoms and incident poor sleep quality among aging women and men in rural South Africa. Methods: This longitudinal community study enrolled 3,237 adults (≥40 years) from the “Health and Ageing in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI).” Measurements: Grandparenting was assessed by self-report at wave 1, and depressive symptoms and poor sleep quality at waves 1 and 2. Outcomes were incident depressive symptoms and incident poor sleep quality at wave 2. Logistic regression was utilized to estimate the associations between grandparenting and incident depressive symptoms and incident poor sleep quality. Results: Almost half of the grandfathers (44.6%) and 68.4% of the grandmothers were parenting 7/days/week. In the final adjusted models, among grandmothers, compared to 0 days/week grandparenting, 7 days/week grandparenting reduced the odds of incident depressive symptoms (AOR: 0.71, 95% CI: 0.55 to 0.91) and reduced the odds of incident poor sleep quality (AOR: 0.58, 95% CI: 0.40 to 0.82). Conclusion: Grandparenting significantly reduced poor mental health among grandmothers but not among grandfathers. Clinical Implications: Practitioners may encourage grandparent caregiving, among grandmothers, to reduce poor mental health in South Africa.