GrandparentGrandchild Family Capital and Self-Rated Health of Older Rural Chinese Adults: The Role of the GrandparentParent Relationship

This study tested the relationship between grandparentgrandchild family capital and self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults and the mediating role of the grandparentparent relationship in terms of grandparentgrandchild family capital and self-rated health. Data were derived from a random sample of 1,027 adults aged 60 and older who were interviewed in the rural Chaohu region in 2009. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the direct effect of grandparentgrandchild family capital in terms of relations with the first childs family on self-rated health among respondents, as well as the mediating effect of the grandparentparent relationship. The results showed the direct effect of grandparentgrandchild family capital on self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults. The grandparentparent relationship had a partial mediation effect on the relationship between grandparentgrandchild family capital and self-rated health of respondents. Grandparentgrandchild family capital had a unique direct effect on the self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults, enriching our theoretical understanding of sources of family capital and their impacts in a collectivist cultural context that emphasizes intergenerational interaction and exchange. The findings also highlighted the mediation effects of grandparentparent relationships on the relationship between grandparentgrandchild family capital and self-rated health of older rural Chinese adults, supporting the grandchild-as-linkage hypothesis in understanding the social determination of self-rated health in China.