Gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren

Zhao, Dantong; Zhou, Zhongliang; Shen, Chi; Ibrahim, Sahardid; Zhao, Yaxin; Cao, Dan; Lai, Sha

doi:10.1186/s12889-021-11886-3

BMC Public Health

Table 4 Gender differences in depressive symptoms of grandparents caring for grandchildren in matched cohorts

From: Gender differences in depressive symptoms of rural Chinese grandparents caring for grandchildren

Variables	Grandfathers				Grandmothers
	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4	Model 1	Model 2	Model 3	Model 4
	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.	Coef.
	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)	(95%CI)
Fixed effects
Grandchild-care duration, hours	− 0.0006				0.0004
Grandchild-care duration, hours	(− 0.002–0.001)				(− 0.001–0.001)
Grandchild-care provision (Ref: No)
Yes		−0.034				−0.087^*
Yes		(− 0.150–0.083)				(− 0.163 - -0.010)
Grandchild-care intensity (Ref: No care)
Low			− 0.047				− 0.112
Low			(− 0.196–0.102)				(− 0.257–0.032)
Moderate			− 0.031				−0.291^***
Moderate			(− 0.173–0.111)				(− 0.435 - -0.147)
High			−0.031				− 0.017
High			(− 0.174–0.113)				(−0.120–0.085)
Grandchild-care intensity (Ref: Low)
Moderate				−0.004				−0.171^*
Moderate				(−0.190–0.182)				(−0.313 - -0.029)
High				−0.001				0.110
High				(−0.184–0.182)				(−0.064–0.284)
Age, years (Ref: 45-49)
≥ 60	0.088	0.087	0.087	0.201^*	−0.139^*	− 0.142^*	−0.133^*	− 0.176^*
≥ 60	(−0.054–0.229)	(−0.055–0.229)	(−0.055–0.229)	(0.021–0.381)	(−0.253 - -0.026)	(− 0.252 - -0.032)	(− 0.244 - -0.023)	(−0.312 - -0.040)
Education level (Ref: Illiterate)
Primary school or below	0.176^†	0.176^†	0.176^†	0.115	−0.031	− 0.029	−0.030	− 0.032
Primary school or below	(−0.024–0.376)	(−0.023–0.375)	(−0.023–0.374)	(−0.063–0.292)	(−0.173–0.111)	(−0.170–0.112)	(−0.171–0.111)	(−0.154–0.091)
Middle school	0.001	0.001	3.20e-05	0.006	−0.228^*	−0.222^*	− 0.230^*	−0.255^**
Middle school	(−0.229–0.230)	(−0.228–0.229)	(−0.228–0.228)	(−0.221–0.233)	(−0.419 - -0.037)	(− 0.412 - -0.032)	(− 0.419 - -0.042)	(−0.441 - -0.070)
High school or above	−0.261	−0.265	− 0.266	−0.049	− 0.314	−0.321	− 0.331	−0.590^*
High school or above	(−0.645–0.122)	(−0.647–0.117)	(−0.647–0.115)	(−0.310–0.212)	(−1.077–0.448)	(−1.063–0.422)	(−1.074–0.412)	(−1.110 - -0.069)
Marital status (Ref: Separated/Divorced/Widowed/Never married)
Married	−0.068	− 0.071	−0.071	− 0.128	−0.131	− 0.130	−0.133	− 0.178
Married	(−0.233–0.098)	(−0.232–0.090)	(−0.232–0.090)	(−0.396–0.140)	(−0.299–0.038)	(−0.298–0.039)	(−0.304–0.039)	(−0.402–0.045)
Work status (Ref: Unemployed)
Working	−0.034	− 0.033	−0.032	0.010	0.059	0.052	0.057	0.075
Working	(−0.184–0.117)	(−0.182–0.116)	(−0.183–0.118)	(−0.176–0.196)	(−0.106–0.224)	(−0.116–0.220)	(−0.107–0.222)	(−0.120–0.271)
Annual household income (Ref: Poorest)
2nd quintile	0.009	0.007	0.006	0.006	0.078	0.076	0.076	0.101
2nd quintile	(−0.197–0.216)	(−0.197–0.210)	(−0.199–0.211)	(−0.226–0.238)	(−0.045–0.201)	(−0.048–0.200)	(−0.049–0.201)	(−0.078–0.280)
Middle	−0.034	− 0.035	−0.036	− 0.061	−0.036	− 0.036	−0.030	0.034
Middle	(−0.186–0.118)	(−0.187–0.117)	(−0.188–0.117)	(−0.293–0.171)	(−0.229–0.157)	(−0.231–0.159)	(−0.224–0.164)	(−0.207–0.274)
4th quintile	−0.016	− 0.018	−0.018	− 0.115	−0.014	− 0.016	−0.022	− 0.154
4th quintile	(−0.216–0.183)	(−0.214–0.179)	(−0.213–0.178)	(−0.352–0.123)	(−0.190–0.163)	(−0.192–0.160)	(−0.197–0.153)	(−0.368–0.061)
Richest	−0.185^*	− 0.186^*	−0.186^*	− 0.280^*	−0.238^*	− 0.240^*	−0.237^*	− 0.282^*
Richest	(−0.348 - -0.022)	(− 0.349 - -0.023)	(− 0.348 - -0.024)	(−0.493 - -0.066)	(− 0.463 - -0.013)	(− 0.462 - -0.017)	(−0.457 - -0.018)	(− 0.507 - -0.057)
Receiving intergenerational support from children (Ref: No)
Yes	0.020	0.020	0.020	−0.028	0.027	0.028	0.029	−0.066
Yes	(−0.197–0.237)	(−0.197–0.237)	(−0.197–0.238)	(−0.200–0.145)	(−0.229–0.282)	(−0.225–0.281)	(−0.229–0.286)	(−0.329–0.196)
Co-habiting with children (Ref: No)
Yes	−0.023	− 0.023	−0.023	− 0.017	−0.015	− 0.012	−0.009	− 0.092
Yes	(−0.136–0.090)	(−0.136–0.091)	(−0.136–0.090)	(−0.175–0.140)	(−0.200–0.169)	(−0.196–0.171)	(−0.190–0.172)	(−0.273–0.089)
Number of grandchildren	0.012	0.011	0.011	−0.008	0.015	0.018	0.017	0.038^†
Number of grandchildren	(−0.018–0.043)	(−0.019–0.041)	(−0.019–0.041)	(−0.054–0.037)	(−0.034–0.063)	(−0.033–0.068)	(−0.033–0.067)	(−0.003–0.080)
Engagement in social activities (Ref: No)
Yes	−0.062	− 0.062	−0.062	− 0.210^***	−0.103^*	− 0.098^*	−0.089^†	− 0.080
Yes	(−0.174–0.050)	(−0.175–0.051)	(−0.174–0.051)	(−0.299 - -0.120)	(− 0.202 - -0.004)	(− 0.195 - -0.001)	(−0.187–0.009)	(−0.196–0.037)
Suffering from chronic disease (Ref: No)
Yes	0.198^**	0.199^**	0.199^**	0.175^*	0.294^***	0.295^***	0.293^***	0.239^***
Yes	(0.049–0.347)	(0.052–0.347)	(0.052–0.347)	(0.006–0.344)	(0.156–0.433)	(0.157–0.432)	(0.156–0.431)	(0.126–0.352)
ADLs score	0.127^***	0.127^***	0.127^***	0.159^***	0.108^***	0.107^***	0.109^***	0.110^***
ADLs score	(0.073–0.181)	(0.073–0.181)	(0.073–0.181)	(0.096–0.222)	(0.066–0.151)	(0.064–0.150)	(0.066–0.152)	(0.052–0.168)
IADLs score	0.059^***	0.059^***	0.059^***	0.063^***	0.090^***	0.091^***	0.091^***	0.092^***
IADLs score	(0.030–0.088)	(0.030–0.088)	(0.030–0.089)	(0.031–0.096)	(0.064–0.117)	(0.064–0.117)	(0.064–0.119)	(0.065–0.119)
Random-effects (intercept)
Level 4 (SE)	0.031	0.031	0.031	0.022	0.015	0.016	0.016	0.001
Level 4 (SE)	(0.013)	(0.013)	(0.013)	(0.014)	(0.013)	(0.013)	(0.013)	(0.009)
Level 3 (SE)	0.042	0.043	0.043	0.042	0.036	0.036	0.035	0.049
Level 3 (SE)	(0.016)	(0.016)	(0.016)	(0.033)	(0.015)	(0.015)	(0.015)	(0.031)
Level 2 (SE)	0.034	0.033	0.033	0.005	0.064	0.061	0.063	0.006
Level 2 (SE)	(0.020)	(0.020)	(0.020)	(0.006)	(0.027)	(0.026)	(0.027)	(0.025)

Model 1 examined the association between grandchild-care duration and depressive symptoms among all participants. Model 2 examined the association between grandchild-care provision and depressive symptoms among all participants. Models 3 and 4 examined the association between grandchild-care intensity and depressive symptoms, among all participants and caregivers, respectively
Multilevel linear regression was employed
Depressive symptoms were measured by square root of CES-D
Ref Reference, SE Standard Error, CI Confidence Interval, ADLs Activities of Daily Living, IADLs Instrumental Activities of Daily Living
^*** p < 0.001, ^** p < 0.01, ^* p < 0.05, ^†p < 0.1

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