Journal List > Korean J Women Health Nurs > v.16(3) > 1037242

Chung and Kim: Grandmother's Life Satisfaction and Influencing Factors by Grandparenting

Abstract

Purpose

The study was to compare the factors of life satisfaction between grandmothers parenting and not parenting their grandchildren.

Methods

A descriptive design with a convenience sampling was used for this study. From communities in S and U city, 85 parenting grandmothers (PG) and 103 non-parenting grandmothers (NPG) were recruited. The PG were those grandmothers who cared for preschooler grandchildren for their daughter or daughter-in-law who was employed.

Results

The demographics of the two groups were similar, however the value of grandparenting was significantly higher in the PG than the NPG (t=4.56, p<.001). In the PG, strong and significant correlations were found among the value of grandparenting, health status, quality of relations with adult children, and life satisfaction. However, demographics were more related to health status and life satisfaction in the NPG. The value of grandparenting, health status, and quality of grandmother-adult children relations were found to be significant factors of life satisfaction (F=20.75, p<.001) explaining 42% of the variances. In the NPG, only health status was a significant factor (F=50.66, p<.001) explaining 33% of the variances.

Conclusion

This study shows that grandmothers' perceptions of grandparenting and family relationships need to be incorporated into the lifestyle in order to support parenting grandmothers' life satisfaction while grandmothers' health is the common concern of elderly women's life satisfaction.

Figures and Tables

Table 1
Comparison of Participants' Characteristics by Grandparenting (N=188)
kjwhn-16-288-i001

PG=parenting grandmother.

Table 2
Differences in the Study Variables by Grandparenting (N=188)
kjwhn-16-288-i002

PG=parenting grandmother; VG=value of grandparenting; QGAR=quality of grandmother-adult children relations.

Table 3
Correlations among the Study Variables (N=188)
kjwhn-16-288-i003

PG=parenting grandmother; LS=living with a spouse; LAC=living with adult children; VG=value of grandparenting; HS=health status; QGAR=quality of grandmother-adult children relations.

*p<.05; **p<.001.

Table 4
Factors of Life Satisfaction by Grandparenting (N=188)
kjwhn-16-288-i004

PG=parenting grandmother; VG=value of grandparenting; HS=health status; QGAR=quality of grandmother-adult children relations.

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