Grandmother Involvement Research Articles

The Role of Grandmothers and Older Women in the Survival of Children with Kwashiorkor in Urban Accra, Ghana

In this article, we present findings from field studies conducted during 1999 and 2002 in Accra, Ghana on the role of Ghanaian grandmothers in the survival of childhood kwashiorkor. Qualitative family interviews were conducted to describe the identification, intervention, and development of malnourished ethnic Ga children. Childhood malnutrition in its various forms continues to be a major cause of mortality and challenges child development in emerging nations such as Ghana. This is generally, but not exclusively, true among the poor. Efforts that promote nutrition education, or dietary intervention, have often failed because intervention requires a more sophisticated understanding of malnutrition than a simplistic relationship to poverty or the lack of available food supplies. We present evidence that survival of protein-caloric malnutrition, kwashiorkor, is directly related to compliance in nutritional rehabilitation programs, and such compliance is associated with collective familial decision making that includes the significant involvement of grandmothers and other senior women within the family.

Grandmothers' Involvement Among Young Adolescents Growing Up in Poverty

Grandmothers often play an important role in low‐income minority families through providing support to their adult children as well as care to their grandchildren. However, little is known about how varying types of grandmother involvement may influence their grandchildren's functioning. This paper uses data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three‐City Study, a longitudinal study sampling low‐income minority youth from high‐poverty neighborhoods, to explore how young adolescents (age 10–14 years at Time 1) function over time based on grandmothers' residential status and their level of caretaking responsibility. Analyses find that young adolescents with a custodial grandmother displayed greater levels of externalizing problem behaviors over time while young adolescents with a co‐residing grandmother reported fewer depressive symptoms over time as compared with their peers. The importance of considering the influence of grandmothers who are more involved, especially among low‐income, minority families, in research and practice will be discussed.

Parenting Behaviors Among Mainland Puerto Rican Adolescent Mothers: The Role of Grandmother and Partner Involvement

Relations between grandmother and partner involvement (coresidence, social support, child care) and Puerto Rican adolescent mothers' parenting behaviors were examined. Few associations between grandmother involvement and behavior emerged, and these were moderated by coresidence. In contrast, partner involvement showed a number of significant (positive) direct and moderated relations with behavior. For both providers, the direction of the relations between social support and behavior during teaching was the opposite depending on coresidence: Greater social support was related to the display of more positive behavior among coresiding mothers but to less competent behavior among non‐coresiding mothers. The relations between child care support and behavior differed across providers. For grandmothers, greater child care was related to less positive behavior during teaching among coresiding mothers but to more competent behavior among non‐coresiding mothers. For partners, greater child care was more strongly related to positive behavior during play among non‐coresiding than coresiding mothers. Results are discussed in light of Latino cultural values, developmental issues, and implications for intervention.

Effects of Welfare Reform on Children of Adolescent Mothers: Moderation by Maternal Depression, Father Involvement, and Grandmother Involvement

SUMMARY There are few data available on how effects of welfare reform on children may differ for different kinds of families. This study examined the constructs of maternal depression, father involvement, and grandmother involvement as moderators of the effects of a welfare reform program on children. The sample included 1,602 children between the ages of 3 and 6 ½ whose mothers had participated in New Chance, a multi-site welfare-to-work program with an emphasis on human capital development (i.e., education, job training). Father and grandmother co-residence were investigated, in addition to perceived support from these family members, in predicting cognitive and behavioral child outcomes. The mediating roles of parenting stress and emotional support in parenting were also explored. Although main effects were found for the intervention and for maternal depression, no main effects were found for the family ecology variables. However, interactions suggested complex relationships among New Chance and the family characteristics for both the full sample and for Latina families. Results are discussed in terms of policy implications and possible future research.

Marital Processes and Parental Socialization in Families of Color: A Decade Review of Research

Research published during the past decade on African American, Latino, and Asian American families is reviewed. Emphasis is given to selected issues within the broad domains of marriage and parenting. The first section highlights demographic trends in family formation and family structure and factors that contributed to secular changes in family structure among African Americans. In the second section, new conceptualizations of marital relations within Latino families are discussed, along with research documenting the complexities in African American men's conceptions of manhood. Studies examining within‐group variation in marital conflict and racial and ethnic differences in division of household labor, marital relations, and children's adjustment to marital and family conflict also are reviewed. The third section gives attention to research on (a) paternal involvement among fathers of color; (b) the relation of parenting behavior to race and ethnicity, grandmother involvement, neighborhood and peer characteristics, and immigration; and (c) racial and ethnic socialization. The article concludes with an overview of recent advances in the study of families of color and important challenges and issues that represent research opportunities for the new decade.

Grandmothers' Involvement in Grandchildren's Care: Attitudes, Feelings, and Emotions

Grandmothers' Involvement in Grandchildren's Care: Attitudes, Feelings, and Emotions* Grandmother's involvement in child care involves a variety of psychological and relational aspects for mothers, grandmothers, and children. This study was aimed at exploring these aspects from the point of view of the grandmother Thirty grandmothers of young children were interviewed in order to analyze the meaning they assigned to grandmothering and identify their individual definitions of the grandmother's role. The analysis of the interviews showed that grandmother's involvement in young grandchildren's care represents a powerful psychological experience and affects the relations between the grandmother and the other members of the family. Implications for child care policies are discussed. Key Words: child care, intergenerational aid, intergenerational relations, grandmothers, grandparenthood. Even in the industrialized countries of today many grandparents still care for their grandchildren when their parents are at work (Attias-Donfut, 1996; ISTAT, 1985). Even though family ties have become looser, child care by grandparents is still an occasion for material help, interpersonal relations, and the comparison of experiences between generations (Norris & Tindale, 1994). However, precisely because of the present fluid state of family relations, grandparenthood no longer has a socially codified status and has become a matter of personal choice (Kornhaber, 1996; Rosow, 1985). As Rosow (1985) pointed out, relative to active parenting, grandparenting is typically a more narrow, less active, tenuous role. All authors agree that, although the relations with the grandchildren are always characterized by a strong emotional involvement, grandparenthood can have many meanings according to a number of individual, environmental and socioeconomic factors, and the social contract between generations (Bengtson & Roberts, 1991; Kivett, 1993; Kornhaber, 1996; Mietkiewicz & Schneider, 1996; Shore & Hayslip, 1994; SmithBattle, 1996). Grandmothers' child care in the first years of the grandchildren's life provides a particularly interesting opportunity to explore the meaning assigned to the act of grandparenting today. Grandmothers' child care has an extremely important social function. Investigations carried out in a number of industrialized countries with different family cultures indicate that many working mothers with children under the age of three make use of grandmothers either as their principal caregivers or to supplement other forms of extra-family care, such as a day care center, family day care, or babysitters (Musatti, 1992; Phillips, 1991; SchneiderMietkiewicz, 1997). There are various reasons for this variability. We have shown (Musatti, 1992) that the mother's decision to entrust the care of her child exclusively to the grandmother for the entire working day is based, above all, on social and economic considerations. When a day care center is not available or is considered unsuitable, low SES working mothers prefer the grandmother to a paid babysitter. However, in another study (Musatti & D'Amico, 1996), we found that the grandmother's availability and the extent of her involvement is determined not only by the mother's material needs but mainly by the grandmother's sociocultural background and its effect on her normative expectations concerning intergenerational aid. These findings suggest that, although grandmother's child care is an ancient social phenomenon, changes in family patterns and women's attitudes towards care within the family might have affected the meaning assigned to grandchild care by modern grandmothers like other aspects of grandparenting (Robertson, 1995). Grandmother's involvement in child care is also likely to involve a variety of psychological and relational aspects. In this study we attempt to analyze how these different aspects interact in the individual definition of the grandmother's role and, particularly, in the meaning assigned to the caring for grandchildren by grandmothers with different socioeconomic backgrounds, life experience, and extent of involvement in the grandchild's care. …

Social support and adjustment among Puerto Rican adolescent mothers: The moderating effect of acculturation.

Associations between grandmother and partner involvement and adjustment were examined among 61 Puerto Rican adolescent mothers. Results indicated that associations between grandmother involvement and adjustment were moderated by the adolescents' level of acculturation. Greater support was related to less symptomatology and parenting stress when acculturation scores were low but to more symptomatology and parenting stress when acculturation scores were high. Social support from partners was related to less symptomatology (but not parenting stress). Although coresidence with a partner was related to greater symptomatology, a significant interaction effect revealed that coresidence was associated with greater symptomatology mainly when mothers perceived their partners as providing low levels of support. Results are discussed in light of Latino cultural values and normative developmental issues. Implications for intervention strategies are also discussed.

Nutrition Education in a Rural Community of Latvia

After fifty years of Soviet rule, the country of Latvia is undergoing widespread change as it seeks to redevelop its government, economy, and healthcare system. The demands of the population have exceeded their resources, both financial and material. The American International Health Alliance (AIHA), in a partnership with a large Midwestern healthcare facility, sponsored a community health promotion project in a rural area of Latvia. Current health information for consumers and health professionals was lacking, and the dietitian as a professional was unknown in Latvia. The District of Tukuma with a population of 57,000 was identified as the area to develop and pilot a community-driven health promotion/education model. The Tukums students were identified via town hall meetings as a community strength. The high school students with help from younger students, teachers, and community members developed audience-specific nutrition and food safety information in varied media for children, family members, and the community. The Latvians consulted with their dietetic partner in person and via electronic mail. With the involvement of grandmothers preparing traditional foods and students making safe and healthy recipe modifications, a cookbook, a new concept to this generation, was developed. Evaluation of the community project required a delicate process. Due to nearly fifty years of Soviet dominance, questioning or interrogating community members in oral or written form could not be considered as an option. The objective of community-wide awareness was achieved in the initial year. Success was identified with World Health Organization (WHO) recognition and eventual adoption and expansion of the project in its second year to other Latvian communities.

Annotation: on the grandmothers' role in the adjustment and maladjustment of grandchildren.

The present annotation explores the impact of grandmother involvement on their grandchildren's adjustment. A review of relevant research suggests that the impact of such involvement is conditional on a range of factors, including (a) the level of need experienced by the mother and child, (b) the mother-grandmother relationship history, (c) the developmental stage and life circumstances of the grandmother, (d) the levels of disagreement between mother and grandmother over child-related issues, and (e) the perceived appropriateness of involvement in cultural and interpersonal terms. Under most circumstances grandmother involvement is not a pre-requisite for grandchild adjustment. Where a genuine need for support exists and the support offered is tailored to meet that need, then grandmother involvement can represent a protective feature of the family environment. However, in situations where no such need exists, or the grandmother-mother relationship history precludes a harmonious relationship, then grandmother involvement can represent a risk factor and have a negative effect on family functioning and child adjustment.

Grandmother involvement in child caregiving in an urban community.

In a community-defined, epidemiologic sample in East Baltimore, we examined grandmothers' rates of co-residence and their involvement in four parenting activities. Co-residence rates exceeded the national average. Six types of family households with grandmothers were identified, and their frequency varied by race. Neither grandmother age nor employment was associated with grandmothers' parenting involvement, although family structure was. Grandmothers who were the sole parent (21%) or co-parent with a grandfather (6.5%) were most involved in child care and had the fewest number of helpers. Grandmothers living with single mothers (41%) were the next most involved, while grandmothers in mother/father households (9%) were least involved.

Adolescent mothering: child-grandmother attachment

This study explored the involvement of maternal grandmothers with children of adolescent mothers and child-grandmother attachment. In a sample of 32 children whose grandmothers were involved in child care, 44% were securely attached to mothers and 72% securely attached to grandmothers. Of the 18 children insecurely attached to mothers, 82.4% were securely attached to grandmothers. A significant relationship existed between attachment security and the time the child was with grandmother, sleeping time excluded. In contrast, time with mother was not related. Based on attachment theory, findings are presented and implications for nursing practice are made.

A Descriptive Study of Adolescent Fathers and Their Mothers

This study explroed the involvement of paternal grandmothers and their grandchildren in teenage parenting. The sample included 44 paternal grandmothers and information was obtained through teenage fathers. The findings suggest that paternal grandmothers are involve in the lives of their grandchildren. They provide some level of financial assistance. School attendance, living arrangements, and the teen fathers' involvement with their children effected paternal grandmothers' involvement.

The relationship between grandmothers’ involvement in child care and emergency department utilization

This study examines the relationship between involvement of grandmothers in child care and poor urban mothers' use of the emergency department (ED) for nonurgent care. Mothers with an index child between one and two years old were interviewed in the waiting room of a pediatric continuity clinic. They were asked about the proximity and involvement in child care of a grandmother, great-grandmother, or female family member. Frequency of ED use was abstracted from the index child's medical records. Results showed that mothers who frequently used the ED for nonemergent pediatric care were more likely to have the child's grandmother or great-grandmother living in close proximity or involved in care of the child than infrequent users (80 vs 45%, P < 0.05). This study suggests that proximity and involvement of the grandmother may influence health care decisions.

Childhood Problems in a Sudanese City: A Comparison of Extended and Nuclear Families

The relation between emotional and social development and family structure in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, was examined. Children between the ages of 4 and 9 living in extended and nuclear families were compared on mothers' ratings of a range of childhood problems. Analysis revealed that children in nuclear families had more conduct, emotional, and sleep problems, poorer self-care, and were more likely to be overdependent than those living in extended families. They were also less likely to be breast fed, to be weaned later, and to have grandmothers involved in child care. Linear multiple regression revealed that, of these 3 childcare factors, grandmother's involvement was the strongest predictor of normal social and emotional adjustment. The possible protective characteristics of the extended family are discussed in relation to the importance of the grandmother as maternal advisor, social support, and socialization agent.