Is There a Link Between Older Adults' Frequency of (Face-to-Face and Remote) Contact With Grandchildren and Cognitive Functioning Over 12 Years?

Abstract

Objectives: Past research has linked more frequent social contacts with better cognition and slower cognitive decline in older adults. An open question is whether face-to-face and remote contact with one's grandchildren can be beneficial.

Methods: We analyzed data from the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care in Kungsholmen covering a span of 12 years and 2 age cohorts (young-old <78, N = 1100; old-old ≥78 years, N = 705). We used latent growth curve models to examine whether frequency of face-to-face or remote grandchild contact was associated with cognitive levels and decline and applied (random intercept) cross-lagged models to investigate if these associations were reciprocal.

Results: Face-to-face contact with grandchildren was positively linked to levels of cognition in young-old adults only. We found no associations with cognitive decline. Results of cross-lagged models suggested that grandparents with better cognition had more face-to-face (for young-old adults only) or remote (for old-old adults only) grandchild contact at subsequent waves. However, more grandchild contact was not associated with later cognition.

Discussion: Our findings suggest that grandparents with better cognition engage more with their grandchildren, but that frequency of grandchild contact is not a protective factor against later cognitive decline in older adults.