Grandmother Caregivers Research Articles

African American Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A National Study Using the Census 2000 American Community Survey

The objective of this work was to determine the prevalence, sociodemographic characteristics, and service utilization patterns of African American grandparents raising grandchildren compared with noncaregiving peers. Data were obtained from the Census 2000 Supplementary Survey/American Community Survey, a nationally representative survey of 890,000 households. Analysis was based upon comparison of 2,362 African American grandparent caregivers aged 45+ with 40,148 noncaregiving peers. Gender-specific analyses also were conducted. Over 500,000 African Americans aged 45+ were estimated to be raising grandchildren in 2000. They were disproportionately female, younger, and less educated than noncaregivers and more likely to be living in poverty and receiving public assistance. Grandmother caregivers had significantly higher rates of functional limitations and poverty than either grandfather caregivers or other African American women aged 45+. African American grandparent caregivers, particularly grandmothers, represent a highly vulnerable population economically. The finding that four-fifths of African American grandmother caregivers below the poverty line were not receiving public assistance underscores the need for improving program outreach and substance to better serve this population. The use of theories of intersectionality and multiracial feminism in future studies of grandparent caregiving should enhance our understanding of how the impact of race on gender varies by social class.

Caregiving stress and adjustment problems of Kenyan orphans raised by grandmothers

The present study compared levels of caregiving stress among 115 biological mothers and 134 grandmothers raising their orphaned grandchildren. The associations between parenting stress and adjustment difficulties exhibited by children raised by these two groups of caregivers were also assessed. Full-time caregiving grandmothers reported elevated levels of stress more than did the biological mothers. A significant negative association was found between child maladjustment and caregiving stress. Caregivers' experienced stress was linked to advanced age and extensive, new adoptive roles now occupied by grandmothers. There was no evidence suggesting that these orphaned children were less well adjusted when compared to children still living with their own birth parents. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Grandmothers as kinship caregivers: private arrangements compared to public child welfare oversight

This study examined 373 grandmothers providing full care for their grandchild(ren) informally (private kinship care) and 208 awarded custody through the child welfare system (public kinship care). Public kinship caregivers were 2.7 times more likely to provide care because of parental drug use and almost 60% more likely because of child neglect. Private kinship caregivers had provided care for a longer time and were more apt to share decision-making with the child's parent. Nevertheless, a substantial proportion of private grandmother caregivers—over 40%—assumed care because of maternal drug use or neglect of their grandchild. Findings imply that child welfare successfully targets families at risk, although many private providers have similar problems and service needs.

Parenting stress and self-reported discipline strategies of Kenyan caregiving grandmothers

The present study examined the discipline methods used and personal and social determinants of power assertive strategies amongst 113 part-time and 128 full-time adoptive grandmothers of Kenyan children aged 1–10 years. Most of these children had been orphaned by AIDS. Evidence obtained from the study suggested that these caregivers’ employment of power assertive strategies were linked to the total stress experienced, educational attainment, and child age but not to the gender of children adopted. The results also indicated a higher prevalence of the assertive and behaviour modification strategies amongst participants over the mean age of 62 years, respondents having basic education (1–12yrs), and those dealing with transgressions of children aged 6 years and above. Coercive verbal forms of control were mainly used by younger grandmothers, or caregivers of children aged less than 6 years. The least preferred inductive strategies were employed by younger respondents, persons lacking formal education, or those dealing with children of both gender aged below 6 years. These findings suggested that the antecedents of power assertive strategies lay both within personal and contextual factors.

Barriers, Lessons Learned, and Helpful Hints

Increasingly, grandmother caregivers must interact with social agencies to obtain services for their grandchildren, but encounter unanticipated obstacles. This qualitative study reports the experiences of 12 grandmothers who were caring for grandchildren of color through five social service agencies. A semi-structured instrument was used that included questions about different aspects of the experience through in-depth interviews and a focus group. Findings describe three categories of experiences: (a) barriers encountered in the systems, (b) lessons learned about the systems, and (c) helpful hints about the systems. Implications for social workers include behavior during service delivery, the dual role inherent in practice with caregivers,and inclusion and support of biological parents.

Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP

Abstract Editor's note: We are privileged to feature Joyce J. Fitzpatrick, PhD, MBA, RN, FAAN, FNAP, as a geriatric nurse leader. The range of her abilities and her numerous contributions to the advancement of nursing science and practice are legendary. She has an amazing capacity to balance numerous roles, all so effectively. We are most interested in the impact she has had on geriatric and geropsychiatric nursing. Her leadership has brought substantial research, resources, and recognition to these specialties. Her tenure as dean of the Frances Payne Bolton (FPB) School of Nursing was particularly fruitful. The Florence Cellar Endowed Chair in Gerontologic Nursing, the first gerontologic chair in the world, was established through her efforts. May Wykle (current dean of FPB) generated the first studies of African-American caregivers of the aged. Other significant gerontologic research emanating from FPB under Joyce's administration includes computerized support of home care for coronary artery bypass graft patients (Brennan), health of grandmother caregivers (Haug, Musil), teaching the use of resources to chronically ill older adults (Zausniewski, Wykle) and caregivers (Wykle), and effects of stress on caregiver health (Haug, Wykle). Numerous other projects to facilitate geriatric research and academic careers in the specialty have emerged under her guidance. Joyce graciously provided the following autobiography of her career and sphere of influence.

The Increase in Incarcerations Among Women and its Impact on the Grandmother Caregiver: Some Racial Considerations

The Increase in Incarcerations Among Women and its Impact on the Grandmother Caregiver: Some Racial Considerations

Grandmothers Who Parent Their Grandchildren

Grandparents raising grandchildren is a growing phenomenon born of serious parent difficulties such as drug addiction, child abuse, and neglect. This study focuses on grandmother well-being and the configuration of close relationships across an intergenerational triad consisting of grandmother, parent, and grandchild. Grandmothers who played a linking role in the family and had strong ties to both other generations had greater life satisfaction than grandmothers in most other triad types. Bradburn Affect Balance Scales showed no differences across types. There may be advantages for caregiving grandmothers to have close relationships with both younger generations even when parent-child bonds are weak.

Kinship Foster Care and Its Impact on Grandmother Caregivers

Summary Kinship foster care programs are designed to address the needs of relatives, usually grandparents, who have taken in children who have been removed from their homes voluntarily, or following a substantiated report of neglect and/or abuse. The author reviews the history of kinship foster care nationally and examines related research. Reported are findings on a survey of kinship foster care programs nationwide and from qualitative interviews with nine grandmothers from New York City who were kinship foster care providers. Particular attention was paid in these surveys to the impact of kinship foster care on families caring for children with disabilities.

Grandmothers Providing Care for Grandchildren: Consequences of Various Levels of Caregiving

Grandmothers Providing Care for Grandchildren: Consequences of Various Levels of Caregiving* This article explores the differences between grandmothers who provide different levels of caregiving responsibility for a grandchild. One-hundred and one grandmothers participated in the study: 23 who were providing full-time care for a grandchild, 33 who were providing part-time care for a grandchild, and 45 who visited a grandchild regularly but had no caregiving responsibilih for that grandchild. Results showed that the grandchild's behavior problems made the largest impact on the grandmother increasing her feelings of burden and parenting stress and decreasing her grandparenting satisfaction. In addition, full-time caregiving grandmothers experienced more burden and parenting stress and less grandparenting satisfaction than part-time caregiving grandmothers. Full-time caregiving grandmothers also reported less life satisfaction than other grandmothers in the study. An area that deserves attention in future -tudies is how the relationship with the adult child (the grandchild 's parent) influences the stress& burden, and satisfaction associated with full-time caregiving. Key Words: caregiver burden, family caregiving, grandparenting, grandparents raising grandchildren. In 1997, as many as 5.6% of U.S. children under the age of 18 (approximately 4 million) lived in households headed by their grandparents (Lugaila, 1998). The incidence of this type of household arrangement has increased over the last three decades. In 1970, approximately 3.2% of children under 18, or 2.2 million children, lived in a household headed by a grandparent. By 1980 these numbers had risen to approximately 3.6% of children under 18, or 2.3 million children. These changes represent a 76% increase, over the last 27 years, in the number of children that live in grandparent headed households (Lugaila,1998). Grandparents often provide care and assistance to their grandchildren. This level of assistance can range from providing full custodial care to occasional overnight visits. The reasons for providing care usually vary according to the level of care provided. Some grandparents provide day care for their grandchildren because the mother and father of the child are working full time, because they don't want the child to go to a day care center or sitter's home, and because they want to assist the parents of the child financially (Jendrek, 1994). Other grandparents live with their adult children and grandchildren providing part-time care as a way to help the parents out financially, because the mother of the child is working full time, because it gives them something to do, or because the parents of the child are divorced or were not married when the child was born (Jendrek,1994). Grandparents are sometimes called on to provide full custodial care for their grandchildren. These grandparents are often providing this level of care because their own children (the grandchildren's parents) are no longer capable of providing the necessary parenting. This may be due to the parents having alcohol or drug abuse problems, having mental or emotional problems, neglecting or abusing the children, going through a divorce, losing their job, needing child care, going to jail, or even dying (Burton, 1992; Creighton, 1991; Hayslip, Shore, Henderson, & Lambert, 1998; Jendrek, 1994; Larsen, 1991; Minkler & Roe, 1993; Minkler, Roe, & Price, 1992; Shore, 1990). Research has shown that grandparents do not choose to take on the full-time care of their grandchildren (Albrecht, 1954; Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1986; Hayslip et al., 1998; Jendrek, 1994; Thomas, 1986a; Thomas, 1986b; Timberlake, 1981; Troll, 1983). However, when the grandchild's home circumstances become troubled, grandparents are often the ones that step in to assist. In many cases this is a last resort option occurring after the circumstances in the grandchild's home have deteriorated to the point that the state has required an out-of-home placement for the child (McAdoo, 1990). …

Health, Stress, Coping, and Social Support in Grandmother Caregivers

Health, Stress, Coping, and Social Support in Grandmother Caregivers

HEALTH, STRESS, COPING, AND SOCIAL SUPPORT IN GRANDMOTHER CAREGIVERS

The purposes of this study were to examine health, stress, coping, and supports of grandmothers who live with one or more grandchildren and participate in their care, and to examine whether differences exist between grandmothers with primary and partial responsibility for their grandchildren's care. A convenience sample of 90 women was recruited from various sites, and participants completed a selfadministered questionnaire. There were no differences between grandmothers who had primary responsibility for raising their grandchildren (n = 58) and those who did not (n = 32) in self-assessed health, anxiety, or depression; in coping; or in typical grandparenting stresses. Grandmothers with primary responsibility reported significantly greater parenting stresses and less instrumental and subjective social support. Grandmothers in both groups reported high depression and anxiety scores and favorable scores on grandparenting stresses. Implications for grandmother caregivers are discussed.

The Impact of Employment and Serious Illness on Grandmothers Who Are Raising Their Grandchildren

ABSTRACT Increasing numbers of children are living in families consisting of grandparents and grandchildren. This paper presents findings of a study in which 123 caregiving grandmothers were interviewed. Fifty-eight percent of these grandmothers were “career caregivers,” whose homes were always filled with a child or grandchild. Most of them were in good to excellent physical health and their mental health was at least as good as that of a national sample. Regression analyses found that having a life-threatening physical condition, being younger and white explained psychological anxiety; and having a life-threatening physical condition and not being employed explained psychological mental health symptoms. These findings suggest that some grandmothers are at risk for mental health symptoms and raise questions about the implications of care-giving of grandchildren for women.

Caregiver Burden: Grandmothers Raising Their High Risk Grandchildren

1. The term caregiver burden currently describes the physical, psychological, emotional, social, and financial problems that can be experienced by family members who are caregivers. 2. The health, emotional and psychosocial well being of the grandchild (care recipient) directly affects the grandmother caregiver's health, emotional, and psychosocial well being. 3. The nursing profession is in an ideal position to identify effective interventions to reduce the stress grandmothers feel.

A Special Population: Grandmother Caregivers

A Special Population: Grandmother Caregivers

Grandmothers as Caregivers: Raising Children of the Crack Cocaine Epidemic.

Foreword - Troy Duster Introduction Social and Cultural Contexts of Caregiving Hearing the Voices, Telling the Stories The Grandparent Caregiver Study Assuming the Caregiver Role The Health Status of Grandmother Caregivers The High Costs of Caring Economic Considerations Social Networks and Social Support Coping with the New Caregiving Combining Work and Childcare The Continuity of Caregiving Raising the Children of the Crack Cocaine Epidemic Special Considerations Community Interventions to Support Grandparent Caregivers Implications for Policy