<p>This study adopts the competing frameworks of role tension and role enhancement theories to investigate how intergenerational care relates to the life satisfaction of elderly individuals in China. A key challenge is resolving the theoretical ambiguity around why and under what conditions caregiving shifts from beneficial to detrimental, a gap that is exacerbated by cultural specificity and nonlinear dynamics in aging societies. Utilizing data from the 2018 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, multiple linear regressions and polynomial models were employed. Propensity score matching was used to partially address endogeneity. Care intensity was operationalized through daily care duration and multiple care roles (simultaneously caring for grandchildren and elderly parents). Grandparents who provided intergenerational care reported significantly greater life satisfaction than noncaregivers did. However, the relationship between care duration and life satisfaction demonstrated an inverse U shape. Concurrent caregiving for grandchildren and elderly parents negated the benefits of intergenerational care. This study adopts social role theory to reconcile conflicting findings in the prior literature and demonstrates that cultural context and care intensity jointly determine whether role enhancement or tension is dominant. The study overcomes data constraints and advances nonlinear modeling tailored to familial traditions to reveal complex nonlinear patterns related to care duration and the detrimental associations with role multiplicity, providing nuanced policy insights for balancing the well-being of elderly individuals and familial obligations.</p>