Emotional Strain in Caregiving Among African American Grandmothers Raising Their Grandchildren

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Emotional Strain in Caregiving AmongAfrican American Grandmothers RaisingTheir GrandchildrenFrancine Conway a , Samuel Jones b & Amandia Speakes-Lewis ba Derner Institute, Adelphi University , Garden City, NYb Long Island University , Brooklyn, NYPublished online: 29 Apr 2011.

To cite this article: Francine Conway , Samuel Jones & Amandia Speakes-Lewis (2011) EmotionalStrain in Caregiving Among African American Grandmothers Raising Their Grandchildren, Journal ofWomen & Aging, 23:2, 113-128, DOI: 10.1080/08952841.2011.561142

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Journal of Women & Aging, 23:113–128, 2011Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLCISSN: 0895-2841 print/1540-7322 onlineDOI: 10.1080/08952841.2011.561142

Emotional Strain in Caregiving AmongAfrican American Grandmothers Raising

Their Grandchildren

FRANCINE CONWAYDerner Institute, Adelphi University, Garden City, NY

SAMUEL JONES and AMANDIA SPEAKES-LEWISLong Island University, Brooklyn, NY

African Americans are disproportionately represented in the num-ber of grandparents raising their grandchildren. Using Role StrainTheory and Socioemotional Selectivity Theory, this study examineshow older grandmothers fare relative to their younger coun-terparts. Eighty-five custodial African American grandmothers,aged 33–88 years old, completed demographic questionnaires andscales of Role Demand, Emotional Strain, Caregiving Strain Index,and Level of Care. Results showed older grandmothers experi-enced less emotional and caregiving strain relative to youngergrandmothers. Furthermore, married grandmothers experiencedless caregiving strain, and their age did not insulate them from thestrain associated with the level of care. Implications are discussed.

KEYWORDS emotion strain, grandparent caregiving, AfricanAmerican older adults

INTRODUCTION

Recent U.S. census reports show that there are more than 4.5 million childrenbeing raised in grandparent-headed households (Bryson, 2001). The phe-nomenon of grandparent caregiving is prevalent among African Americanand Latino grandparents: African Americans and Latino grandparents have a38% and 13% chance respectively of becoming caregivers for their grandchil-dren (American Association of Retired Persons [AARP], 2000). Considering

Address correspondence to Francine Conway, PhD, Associate Professor, AdelphiUniversity, Blodgett Hall, Room 212A, Garden City, NY 11530. E-mail: [email protected]

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114 F. Conway et al.

that African Americans and Latinos make up 12.9% and 12.5% of the pop-ulation, they are disproportionately affected by the grandparent-caregiversituation (Grieco & Cassidy, 2001; McKinnon, 2001). Over the past decade,the numbers of African American grandparents raising grandchildren havealmost doubled from 13% in 1995 to 36% in 1997 (U.S. Census, 1995, 1997,2000). Given the sharp increase in the number of children being raised bytheir grandparents over the past decade, researchers and policy makers alikehave focused on the needs of this unique family constellation (Casper &Bryson, 1998).

The increase in the numbers of grandparents in caregiving roles par-allels the increase in the growing number of older adults. AARP andAdministration on Aging (AOA) estimates that the number of older adults,age 65 and older, in the year 2030 will be at 20% of the population com-pared to the year 2000 rates of 12% (AARPAOA, 2004; Taeuber, 1993). Notonly are older adults the fastest-growing group, but also the number of olderAfrican American elderly has shown sharp rates of increases (Beckett &Dungee-Anderson, 2000). Although African Americans have a shorter lifeexpectancy, the elderly are the fastest-growing age group among AfricanAmericans (Beckett & Dungee-Anderson, 2000). The intersection of thesetwo bodies of knowledge—increase in the number of grandparent caregivers(particularly minority grandparents) coupled with increase in the number ofminority older adults—necessitates consideration of the impact of caregiv-ing roles on older minority grandparents. This study examines how olderminority grandparent caregivers fare relative to their younger counterparts.

The assumption of the grandparent caregiving role is a stressful one,and studies conducted on grandparent caregiving during the past decadeevidence the stress associated with caregiving. Firstly, the assumption ofthe caregiving role usually occurs in response to a family crisis due to theimpaired ability of birth parents to adequately care for the child (Minkler &Roe, 1993). Parenting crises originate from a variety of reasons including sub-stance abuse, death, incarceration, financial difficulties, mental illness, abuse,and neglect, to mention a few (Barry, 1991; Burton, 1992; Barnhill & Dressel,1991; Jendrek, 1993; Joslin & Brouad, 1995; Minkler, Roe & Price, 1992;Minkler, Roe, Robertson-Beckley, 1994). Caregivers who assume parentalroles as a result of a crisis situation are particularly prone to experience achange in their roles. Lipman-Blumen’s (1973) theory of Role Change assertsthat crisis in a social system provides the most favorable condition for rapidand widespread role transformation.

A basic tenet of Role Theory asserts that role strain due to role changeresults in emotional strain (Lipman-Blumen, 1973; Mui, 1992). The idea ofbecoming a second-time parent and the recycling of the family developmentstages for a grandchild, prolonging the parenting stage and one’s time untilmoving toward the traditional grandparent role, can create role strain. Theunexpected strain of being a primary parent to a grandchild changes the

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Emotional Strain in Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren 115

timing of the grandparent caregiver’s life course events, which can lead toemotional strain (Landry-Meyer, 1999). Therefore, in this study, we expectthat the experience of parenting as a result of crisis places grandparents ina new role and results in emotional strain.

Secondly, grandparent caregivers encounter emotional stress resultingdirectly from the caregiving situation. The adoption of the caregiving roleis simultaneously accompanied with a corollary impairment in the func-tioning of the grandparent’s own biological child and the resulting grief(Pinson-Milburn, Fabian, Schlossberg & Pyle, 1996). Heightened rates ofdepressive symptomatology are characteristic of grandparent caregivers andparticularly more pronounced among those grandparents caring for special-needs children (Burnette, 2000; Minkler, Fuller-Thomson, Miller, & Driver,2000). Other sources of stress stem from social isolation, difficulties navigat-ing social systems, conflicts stemming from employment and the biologicalparents, and grandchildren’s behavioral problems (Minkler et al., 1992;Sands, Goldberg, & Robins, 2000; Waldrop & Weber, 2001). In particular,Hayslip and Shore (2000) found impaired grandchild–grandparent relation-ships among grandparents parenting grandchildren who presented withvarying degrees of neurological, emotional, or behavioral problems.

Contrary to the proliferation of research evidencing the difficultiesand challenges of caregiving for grandparents, the cultural literature hasnormalized caregiving in the African American and minority communities.Caregiving for African American grandparents is not a new role. Studiesshow minority groups have a long history of caregiving and reliance onextended family networks (Burton & Dilworth Andersen, 1991; Thomas,Sperry, & Yarbrough, 2000). Not only are kin important to support aroundcaregiving roles, but studies have also documented the extension of familyboundaries to include fictive kin (Scott & Black, 1989). Certainly, the conceptof raising one’s grandchild is not a new one to some minority communities.Yet, disparities in well-being of grandparent caregivers relative to noncare-giver counterparts persist (Strawbridge, Wallhagen, Shema, & Kaplan, 1997).While Caucasian grandparents may be more susceptible to role disorienta-tion due to the infrequent adoption of caregiving during their early years,it remains unclear in the literature why minority grandparent caregivers dopoorly with the assumption of the grandparent caregiving role. This studyquestions whether the caregiving experience of minority grandparent care-givers is a uniformly emotionally strenuous one. Furthermore, it is unclearhow the role changes and resulting emotional strain impacts grandparents atdifferent stages of their life cycle. We anticipate differences in the emotionalexperience of older grandparent caregivers relative to younger ones.

The adult development literature holds relevance for the “normal” pro-gression of adult life events. Kivnick’s (1982) five-dimensional model ofgrandparenthood posits that centrality, valued elder, immortality throughclan, reinvolvement with personal past, and indulgence are important

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facets of the grandparent role. Other researchers, such as Kornhaberand Woodward (1981), discuss the developmental attainments of tradi-tional grandparenthood as being void of the psychoemotional intensity andresponsibility present in the parent and child relationship. Although theseresearchers offer some sense of what is expected, demographic studies evi-dence the changing role of grandparents in the lives of their grandchildren.In contrast, Hayslip, Henderson, and Shore (2003) support the diversity ofroles evident in contemporary grandparenting and the unique meaning ofgrandparenting constructed by different cohorts of grandparents. Today’sgrandparents are involved in the child’s life on a variety of levels. Accordingto Davies (2002), the AARP Grandparent Study 2002 Report found thatgrandparents coparent their grandchildren teaching values, providing enter-tainment, attending to their problems, and speaking about day-to-day issues.Grandparents also provide financial support for educational and daily liv-ing needs as well as child-care (Horowitz, 1985; Johnson & Bursk, 1977).Although grandparents have become more involved in providing concretesupport to their grandchildren, there remain some important distinctions inthe grandparent caregiver–grandchild relationship. For the grandparentingsituation in particular, Jendrek (1993) speaks to some of the impingements ofcaregiving on the more traditional grandparent status. In particular, Jendrek(1993) looked at the effects of parenting on the social spheres of the grand-parent’s lifestyle, although he made little or no comment on the impact ofcaregiving on the grandparent’s emotional life. The grandparents experi-ence failure in their support networks because their friends no long sharethe role of parent (Jendrek, 1994), thus increasing the risk of experiencingemotional strain.

Notwithstanding the changes in society and the accompanying changesin the grandparenting role, the grandparent caregiver situation remainsunique in that the grandparent has adopted major parental responsibili-ties for the child. Depending on their stage in life and the accompanyinglife tasks, grandparents may be parenting their own children, caring foraging parents, or in the retirement phase of their lives. The existing the-ories about human development across the life span tend to offer avaluable perspective that captures the developmental challenges of indi-viduals across the life span. Although developmental theories explain age-and stage-appropriate functioning, they are limited in their application tograndparent caregivers, who represent a diverse age range with equallydiverse needs (Pinson-Millburn et al., 1996). Moreover, theorists such asNeugarten (1979) acknowledge the increasing societal trend toward a merg-ing of life cycle stages and the resulting task-demand constructed meaningof age. Consequently, although there are recurring themes associated withtargeted life cycle stages, the accompanying task manifestations and intrapsy-chic meanings are less defined than previously believed (Neugarten, 1979).Therefore, the contributions of “out-of-stage” activities, performed as a result

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of out-of-stage parenting, to emotional strain experienced by grandparentcaregivers offer a partial explanation for their differential experience ofemotional strain.

In considering the emotional experience of grandparent caregivers, theempirical literature on emotion functioning in older adults offers a usefulframework. Studies thus far on the emotions of older adults have foundolder adults less frequently express negative emotions (Charles, Reynolds, &Gatz, 2001). Furthermore, older adults are reported to fare better emotion-ally and are found to have lower rates of mental disorders (Diener & Sul,1998; Regier, Rae, Narrow, Kaelber, & Schatzberg, 1998). Given this study’shypothesized differences in the experience of emotional strain in caregivingamong older minority grandparent caregivers, the context of socioemotionalselectivity theory offers a useful theoretical framework for which to exploreage differences in emotions (Carstensen, 1995). According to Carstensen,Isaacowitz, and Charles (1999), socioemotional selectivity theory dictatesthat time is deterministic of the emotional goals, which are more prominentas the individual available life span is perceived as limited. Empirical studieshave established that older adults are better at regulating their emotions. Forexample, Charles, Carstensen, and McFall (2001) found that predominantly,older adults choose a passive way of coping; sadness results in less-conflictual interpersonal relationships. Others, such as Carstensen, Gross,and Fung (1998), have found that older adults prioritize their emotionalgoals to facilitate and maintain closeness. Not only do older adults valueand prefer close social partners, such as family and close friends, rather thanperipheral social acquaintances, but also their perspective on time results inmaking emotional decisions to preserve relationships and interact with closesocial partners (Carstensen et al., 1998; Levenson, Carstensen, & Gottman,1993). As such, in this study we expect to find that older grandparent care-givers will experience less emotional strain and caregiving strain than theiryounger counterparts. Secondly, we predict the greater the number of rolesheld in addition to the caregiving role, the greater the level of emotional andcaregiving strain. Thirdly, this study hypothesizes that the age of the grand-parent will contribute greatly to the variance in emotional and caregivingstrain over and above the number of roles grandparents hold in addition tothe caregiving role. Finally, the level of care required by the child wouldmediate the amount of emotional and caregiving strain.

METHOD AND DESIGN

Participants

Eighty-five African American grandmothers who live in the New Yorkmetropolitan area were recruited to participate in this study. A conveniencesample of grandmother caregivers was recruited from grandparent support

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TABLE 1 Demographic Characteristics of Grandmothers

Descriptive statistics

Demographics Mean (SD)

Education 11.5 (3.75)Age 59.6 (9.8)

%Age groups<40 340–64 63>64 34

Marital Status (Married) 28Income (<20,000) 67

programs, schools, doctors’ offices, and aging organizations. Grandmotherswho currently care for at least one grandchild (18 years of younger) atleast 5 days per week were determined to be caregivers for their grand-child whether or not the relationship was legally sanctioned. A caregivingsituation also includes those circumstances where the child lives with thegrandparent on a full-time basis and for whom the grandparent has primarycaregiving responsibilities. Grandmothers participating in the study range inage from 33 to 88 years old. Sixty-six percent were 64 years old or younger,and 34% were older than 65 years of age (See Table 1).

Procedure

Grandmothers were contacted and their eligibility for the study deter-mined. Once eligible, demographic information (age, ethnicity, economicstatus, reasons for caregiving, and the like) and grandmothers’ emotionalexperiences in the caregiving role was obtained.

Measures

DEMOGRAPHICS

Demographic information such as age, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, levelof education, marital status, and the like were obtained from a demographicquestionnaire designed for this study and piloted for clarity of language.

NUMBER OF ROLES

The number of social and caregiving roles grandmothers held was obtainedby their response to a single-item question on a scale of Role Demandthat asked grandmothers to identify roles held from a list of roles includingbeing married, mother of child(ren) under 15 years old, caregiver of a

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chronically impaired person, caregiver of an elderly parent, employment,and volunteer/community involvement (Mui, 1992). Information on otheritems on the scale was obtained for purposes of another study.

EMOTIONAL STRAIN

The emotional cost of caregiving has been conceptualized in the literature asRole Strain based on Role Theory (Mui, 1992). Mui (1992) completed a factoranalysis of secondary data from the National Long-Term Care ChannelingDemonstration 1982–1984 (the caregiving spouses [n = 437] and siblings[n = 128] subsample was studied). The data was reduced into compositesections, thereby increasing the alpha coefficient.

The measure of Emotional Strain used by Mui (1992) was a 5-pointLikert scale adopted in this study. Grandmothers were asked to rate theamount of emotional strain or stress that caring for the child placed onher. Grandmothers responded on a 5-point scale where 1 indicates littleor no emotional strain and 5 means a great deal of emotional strain. Rolestrain was operationalized as a one-dimensional concept, as a measure ofemotional strain (Mui, 1992). This measure of Emotional Strain correlatespositively with a reliable measure of family strain (reliability coefficient .77)(Morycz, 1985).

CAREGIVING STRAIN INDEX

Grandmothers responded to the Caregiver Strain Index measure developedby Robinson (1983). Grandmothers were presented with a list of 13 stres-sors and asked whether or not they identified difficulties in these areas as aresult of their grandchildren coming to live with them. The list of stressorsincluded sleep disturbances, inconvenience, physical strain, confinement,family adjustment, changes in personal plans, competing demands on time,emotional adjustments, upsetting behavior, changes in the child’s person-ality, work adjustments, financial strain, and feelings of being completelyoverwhelmed. The total numbers of stressors identified by grandmotherswere summed to obtain a caregiving strain index score.

LEVEL OF CARE

Level of care needed by the child was adjusted from Mui’s (1992) initialquestion regarding the level of activities of daily life (ADL) impairment andwas included to control for possible effects on the caregiver’s caregivingstrain score. Grandmothers were asked to provide the number of ADL tasksthat they needed to do for the child such as feeding, bathing, dressing, andtoileting. In addition, grandmothers were asked to provide a count of thenumber of behavioral problems the child exhibited.

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BEHAVIORAL PROBLEMS

A numerical estimate of the number of behavioral problems the child exhib-ited was obtained by asking grandmothers to “list the number of behavioralproblems the child exhibits.”

RESULTS

As predicted in the first hypothesis, results of zero order correlationshow that older grandmothers were more likely to report less emotionalstrain (r = −.24; p < .05) and caregiving strain (r = −.34; p < .01)(See Table 2).

Results however, failed to support the second hypothesis that thegreater the number of roles held in addition to the caregiving role, thegreater the level of emotional and caregiving strain. However, for grand-mothers who held the marital role, there is a significant negative relationshipbetween the marital role and emotional and caregiving strain (r = −.23;p < .05 and r = −.22; p < .05 respectively) (See Table 2). There was nosignificant relationship between grandmothers’ age and marital status.

Regarding the third hypothesized relationship in this study, predictorvariables were included in a stepwise multiple regression analysis with eachoutcome variable to ascertain the uniqueness of the variables’ contributionto emotional and caregiving strain. As expected, grandmothers’ age was asignificant predictor of emotional strain above the number of roles held(R = .28; β = −.29; t = .01).

The final hypothesis examined the relationship between level of care(ADLs and Behavioral Problems) and emotional and caregiving strain usingmultiple regression analyses. Next, this relationship was reexamined foreffects as a mediator using stepwise multiple regressions in a separate analy-sis of predictor and outcome measures. It is anticipated that the level of carerequired by the child would mediate the amount of emotional and caregiv-ing strain. Findings show the greater the number of behavioral problems,the greater the emotional strain (r = .38; p < .001) and caregiving strain(r = .44; p < .001) (See Table 2). However, there was no significant rela-tionship between level of care and grandmothers’ age. ADL Tasks (R = .55;β = −.03; t = .01) and Behavioral problems (R =.70; β = .26; t = .002)mediated emotional strain and caregiving strain respectively.

DISCUSSION

There exists ample evidence in the empirical literature that attests to theemotional strain inherent in the grandparent caregiving experience. Giventhe diversity in age and life cycle stage among grandparents who are

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TAB

LE2

Corr

elat

ions

ofth

eSt

udy’

sPre

dic

tor

and

Outc

om

eVar

iable

s

Leve

lof

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otio

nal

Car

egiv

ing

#of

Leve

lof

care

—beh

avio

rA

gest

rain

stra

inca

regi

ving

role

sM

arried

care

—A

DLs

pro

ble

ms

Age

—Em

otio

nal

stra

in−0

.24∗

—Car

egiv

ing

stra

in−0

.34∗∗

0.68

∗∗∗

—#

ofca

regi

ving

role

s−0

.34∗∗

−0.0

5−0

.05

—M

arried

−0.0

1−0

.23∗

−0.2

2∗0.

67∗∗

∗—

Leve

lofca

re—

AD

Ls−0

.29∗∗

0.07

0.20

0.03

−0.0

7—

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re—

Beh

avio

rPro

ble

ms

−0.0

10.

38∗∗

∗0.

44∗∗

∗−0

.14

−0.1

10.

01—

∗ p<

.05;

∗∗p

<.0

1,∗∗

∗ p<

.001

.

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caregivers, the application of a more traditional developmental model ofgrandparenthood is limited. Role theory provides a basis for understandingthe complexity of the grandparent caregiver’s role as a second-time-aroundparent. Emotion-regulation theory offers a more sensitive model for under-standing this complex relationship as well as the potential to develop andinform policy implementation. The study found that older grandmothersexperienced less emotional and caregiving strain than their younger counter-parts. Although the relationship between the number of roles and emotionaland caregiving strain was not significant, having the marital role was signifi-cantly related to the experience of strain. Grandmothers who were marriedexperienced less emotional and caregiving strain. Perhaps this is relatedto more physical and emotional support from one’s spouse and peers, aswell as a decreased sense of isolation. However, there was no relationshipbetween the age of the grandmother and assumption of the marital role.Furthermore, as expected, the grandmothers’ age was a significant predictorof emotional strain above the number of roles held.

Older adults’ emotion regulatory style is orientated toward preserv-ing close relationships. In so doing, maintaining close social relationships,decreasing interpersonal conflict, and making decisions aimed at preservingrelationships are paramount to their interpersonal and cognitive well-being.The study’s findings that older grandparents experience less caregiving strainthan younger ones suggest that instead of seeing the caregiving role as aburdensome and an extracting one, older grandmothers view the caregivingrole as an opportunity to expand their interpersonal opportunities and socialnetworks.

This finding is supported by anecdotal reports, which suggest thatgrandmothers derive satisfaction from their relationships, including compan-ionship, opportunities to reparent, and vicarious experience of the child’sdevelopment. For example, one grandmother welcomed the child’s com-pany and viewed the relationship as providing valuable companionship“. . . my kids don’t think I should care for them, but they (grandchildren)take walks with me.” In other circumstances, caring for the grandchild isa source of pride for the grandparent. Grandmothers report that caregivinghas reinforced a familiar family constellation wherein extended families areaccepted, if not welcomed. Particularly for older adults who are in the pro-cess of life review, another opportunity to parent places them in a uniqueposition to redo previous roles. On grandmother, age 69, stated

I love the child and pray God gives me life to see him grow up. He’ssmart, and he doesn’t know the sacrifices I made for him. . . . I don’twant him to know; I only want him to know Grandma is here.

The marital role is a source of general support for grandmothers in thecaregiving role. However, since there is no significant relationship between

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the older grandmothers and the marital role, there is no indication thatbeing married contributes directly to the shift in cognition and interpersonaldealings that occurs with age.

A more significant predictor of strain in caregiving, however, isthe grandmother’s age. Grandmothers’ age was a significant predictor ofemotional strain above the number of roles held. Older grandmothers’ mem-bership in a particular cohort that has benefited from societal influencesof their time may contribute more strongly to these observed differences.Although older grandmothers may be in need of concrete and instrumentalsupport in carrying out their child care obligations, they may require lessintervention in the relationship with their grandchildren.

Regarding the more concrete aspects of the childcare arrangement,we anticipated that the level of care needed would impact the grandpar-ent’s experience of caregiving strain. Findings show the greater the numberof behavioral problems, the greater the emotional and caregiving strain.However, there was no relationship between the grandmothers’ age and thenumber of behavioral problems experienced. Older grandmothers did notnecessarily experience more or fewer behavioral problems than youngerones, yet they experienced lower strain in caregiving. Further investigationwould be needed to determine what factors specific to older caregivers serveto buffer them from experiencing increased strain with increased behav-ioral problems. However, it is possible that their unique perspective andorientation toward relationships may contribute to the buffering effect.

This finding supports the previous one and provides a demonstrationof how older grandmothers’ orientation toward relationship preservation isinstrumental. Anecdotal data are consistent with developmental tasks thatsuggest that one cognitive strategy employed by older caregivers is to makedecisions aimed at preserving interpersonal relationships. For example, asindicated earlier, grandmothers stated that they place great importance ontheir relationships with their grandchildren. This finding strongly suggeststhey may have a unique problem-solving approach that serves them well intheir ability to cope with the child’s behavioral problems.

Moreover, a complementary dynamic appears to be of vital importanceto this process. For example, let’s consider a grandparent with a grand-child who has experienced abrupt losses, incomplete parenting, and/orfeels abandoned. This child is likely to be unresponsive to the grandpar-ent’s instructions, argues with the grandparent, refuses to complete his/herchores, lies, becomes anxious and unable to delay gratification, exhibitsbehavioral problems in academic settings that result in repeated visits tothe school, and the like, possibly due to anticipation of loss or beingretraumatized by decisions they perceive as threatening. A grandparentwhose cognitive style of interpersonal relatededness focuses on maintain-ing relationships is complementary to the child’s cognitive, emotional, anddevelopmental needs.

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Both ADL tasks and behavioral problems mediated emotional andcaregiving strain respectively. Differential experiences of caregiving are sub-jected to the reality of the caregiving demands placed on the grandparentresulting from the child’s needs. Children who are disabled or have specialneeds will pose more challenges for the caregivers, regardless of their stageand age in life. Interventions aimed at relieving the burden of grandmotherscaring for special needs children should be continually supported.

Implications

The findings of this study are that older grandmothers do experience lessemotional and caregiving strain. As policies are incrementally developedand implemented, one can infer based on anecdotal data that these grand-mothers have developed unique cognitive and emotional styles orientedtoward preserving interpersonal relationships and reducing interpersonalconflicts. Therefore decision makers ought to consider the complementarynature of the grandparent’s emotional and cognitive resources and the child’semotional needs in making long-term planning decisions. Furthermore amore deliberate and scientific method should be employed in custodyand resource-allocations decisions. For example, a child who has aban-donment issues would fare better with an older grandparent who hasmore of an investment in maintaining the relationship, as opposed toa caregiver who is more solution oriented. It is not sufficient to onlyconsider the concrete needs of the child and resources of the grand-parent; a developmental model where the grandparent’s life cycle stagecould be matched with the child’s emotional needs and cognitive abilityis indicated.

The chronological age of the caregivers need not automatically excludethem from caregiving, particularly in instances where the older adult’s devel-opmental task complements the emotional needs of the child. Rather, theappropriation of resources and an intervention more consistent with thedevelopmental interplay of the child’s needs and grandparent’s resourcesshould be assessed. Resources should augment the grandparent’s capacityfor fostering complementarity with the child. For example, an individualwho is getting older may lose her sense of feeling valued in the world. Theopportunity to provide care for one’s grandchild benefits the child who is inneed of care while simultaneously satisfying the grandparent’s own devel-opmental need to provide nurturance and feel valued. Therefore, supportservices could offer instrumental assistance to bolster a potentially gratifyingand supportive relationship.

In turn, younger grandmothers may benefit from more support pro-grams and interventions targeting their relational issues in parenting theirgrandchildren. Similar to older grandmothers, assessment of the caregivers’needs should be twofold, that is, both instrumental and emotional.

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Support for grandparents in the enactment of the parental role can pro-vide stability for the grandparent caregiver–grandchild relationship. Servicesand support will enhance parental efficacy and strengthen the familial rolesas caregivers develop emotionally to meet the changing demands of theirnontraditional role (Landry-Meyer, 1999).

Limitations

While these findings are reflective of African American grandmothers and wehave not explored these dynamics as it pertains to other ethnic groups, onecan infer that there is some applicability to all older caregivers. Since thereis no comparison group, it is unclear whether these findings characterizeall caregivers or are unique to African Americans. Furthermore, possiblegenerational cohort effects may explain the unique approach to caregivingfound among older grandparent caregivers. This study needs to be replicatedamong other ethnic groups of grandparent caregivers.

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Documents

Emotional Strain in Caregiving Among African American Grandmothers Raising Their Grandchildren