Download - 2016 SSWR Final
Parenting challenges among kinship caregivers: Differences and similarities
between grandparent caregivers and other relative caregivers
Presented at 20th Annual Conference of Society of Social Work and Research
Michael Clarkson-Hendrix, Yeonggeul Lee and Eunju Lee
Project Background
• A 3 year demonstration project funded by Children’s Bureau
• To improve practice and policy for kinship families who are not in foster care
• Caregivers often have court-ordered guardianship or custody
• Research suggests many kinship caregivers are struggling financially and children may have high needs for services
Study Settings and Participant Recruitment
• 5 upstate counties including rural to urban sites
• Caregivers who came into contact with social services and community agencies were asked to participate
Goals
1. To understand the contexts and the relationship types of kinship care
2. To examine service needs and challenges of providing care to children
3. To investigate the differences and similarities between grandparent and other caregivers
Mixed Methods
• Survey Data Collection
– Phone Interview lasting 30-50 minutes
– May 2013 - September 2014
– Incentives
– N=303
Survey Measures
1. Parenting Stress Index – Parental Distress (PD) subscale
2. Demographic characteristics and socio-economic data
3. Reasons for becoming kin caregiver
4. Relationship to child
5. Household
6. Caregiver well-being
7. Family Needs Scale
Focus Group
• A topic guide including contexts of placement, service needs and challenges of being full-time caregivers
• 4 Focus groups across 5 sites
– 2 groups of grandparents
– 2 groups of other relatives
• Two researchers – a facilitator and a note taker
• Tape recorded and transcribed
Survey Findings
• N=303
• 71 % are grandparents
– The rest are other relatives and friends.
• Caregiver mean age: 52 years (range; 20-86)
• Children: 0-20
63.77%
22.83%
13.41%
One Child Two Children Three or More
# of children in care
Household Income
Under $10,000
19%
$ 10,000-19,999
17%
$ 20,000-29,999
14%$ 30,000-39,999
10%
$ 40,000-49,999
10%
Over $ 50,000
30%
Reason the child not living with mother
13.2%
14.9%
16.6%
16.6%
20.7%
31.5%
46.1%
46.1%
52.9%
55.3%
55.3%
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%
Mother is going to or is in jail
Mother has never been involved in child's life
Mother's whereabouts are unknown
Mother has serious health problems
Mother's involvement in other child welfare services
Mother is a victim of domestic violence
Mother's housing is unstable/got evicted
Mother has financial problems/can't afford to keep the child
Mother has drug/alcohol problems
Mother has mental health issues
Mother's involvement in CPS
Results 1: T-tests and chi-squaresVariables GPCG (n=214)
Mean (SD) / N (%)ORCG (n=86)
Mean (SD)/ N (%)t-score /
chi-squaredp-value
Age (years) 55.77 (9.21) 43.39 (11.9) 9.631 <0.001Caregiver race/ethnicityWhite (Non-Hispanic)Black (Non-Hispanic)HispanicOther
147 (69.0)47 (22.1)17 (8.0)2 (0.9)
54 (62.8)21 (24.4)10 (11.6)1 (1.2)
1.435 0.697
Household incomeUnder 20,00020,000 – 50,000Over 50,000
78 (38.0)65 (31.7)62 (30.2)
24 (28.9)34 (41.0)25 (30.1)
2.864 0.239
Number of own childrennoneonetwothree or more than three
139 (65.0)53 (24.8)14 (6.5)8 (3.7)
38 (44.2)25 (29.1)12 (14.0)11 (12.8)
16.747 0.001
Number of kin childrenonetwothree or more than three
135 (63.1)53 (24.8)26 (12.1)
66 (76.7)8 (9.3)
12 (14.0)
9.081 0.011
Perceived well-being 3.40 (0.84) 3.75 (0.82) 3.268 <0.001Family needs scale 1.37 (0.83) 1.57 (0.83) 1.770 0.078Parental distress 28.41 (9.00) 23.87 (8.19) 3.927 <0.001Clinically significant level (>35) of PDyesno
35 (18.2)157 (81.8)
9 (11.0)73 (89.0)
2.243 .153
Results 2: t-tests and chi-squares
• GPCGs are sig. older than ORCGs.
• GPCGs showed lower perceived well-being
• GPCGs showed higher PD.
• GPCGs are more likely to be clinically sig. in PD
Result 3: Multiple RegressionStep 1
B (β)
Step 2
B (β)
R square
change
Grandparent vs other relative caregivers
Caregiver age
Race/Ethnicity (Ref. White and others)
Black
Hispanic
Household income (Ref. +$50,000)
Under $20,000
$20,000 - $49,999
Have own children (y/n)
Have more than one kin child (y/n)
-2.964 (-.151)*
.051 (.065)
-1.338 (-.062)
2.418 (.079)
.196 (.010)
-.258 (-.014)
-2.026 (-.092)
2.407 (.127)*
-2.596 (-.132)*
.071 (.091)
-.903 (-.042)
1.510 (.049)
-1.593 (-.084)
-1.878 (-.100)
-1.140 (-.052)
1.906 (.100) †
Step 1: .092
Perceived well-being
FNS
-3.213 (-.301)**
2.619 (.243)**
Step 2: .150**
ANOVA tests at each step2)
R at each step
F(8, ∞)=3.356**
.302
F(10, ∞)=8.357**
.492
R2 (adjusted R2) at each step .092 (.064) .242 (.214)
Intercept 25.071 32.564
Result 3: Multiple Regression• Step 1
– GPCGs showed higher level of PD compared to ORCGs– CGs who have more than one kin-child showed higher
level of parental distress compared to CGs who have one kin-child
• Own-child variable was not significant
• Step 2: Model was sig. better than step 1– GPCGs still showed higher level of PD compared to
ORCGs– Kin-child variable was sig. at the level of p=.10– Perceived well-being and FNS were associated with PD
GP-OR variable is still sig. in step 2. Further investigation to understand the difference b/w
GPCSs and ORCGs is needed.
Qualitative Results: Sources of Parenting Stress
• Caregiver personal
• Kinship child(ren)
• Biological parent of kinship child(ren)
• Peer or family of kinship caregiver
• Institutional
Qualitative Results: Similarities
• Kinship child(ren)’s behavior
• Conflicts with biological parent
• Biological parent addiction
• Child welfare
• Department of Social Services
Conclusions
• Many sources of stress are similar for both grandparents and other relative caregivers
• Elevated parental distress levels for grandparents compared to other relative caregivers may be due to concerns for the parent’s well-being, guilt, the strain of caring for spouses whose functioning is compromised and the lack of appropriate mental health services for kinship children
Conclusions
• Limitations
– A non representative survey sample
– PD was never tested on kin caregivers
– Selection bias for a focus group sample
Implications
• Practice– Many sources of stress can be addressed in similar ways
for both groups (e.g., case management services)
– Grandparents should be screened for feelings of guilt and referred to appropriate services to address them (e.g., grandparent support group)
– Grandparents should be screened for spousal health status and referred to appropriate services to address caregiver strain (e.g., aging services)
– Mental health service providers should be trained in the needs of grandparent caregivers
Implications
• Policy
– Federal and state governments need to formulate a coherent policy to improve well-being of informal kinship families
– State and local child welfare administrators need to recognize high prevalence of child welfare involvement in this population
– Local agencies need to assist families to access resources and services