Custodial Grandmothers' Psychological Distress, Dysfunctional Parenting, and Grandchildren's Adjustment

Abstract

An adaptation of the Family Stress Model (FSM) with hypothesized linkages between family contextual factors, custodial grandmothers' psychological distress, parenting practices, and grandchildren's adjustment was tested with structural equation modeling. Interview data from 733 custodial grandmothers of grandchildren between ages 4-17 revealed that the effect of grandmothers' distress on grandchildren's adjustment was mediated by dysfunctional parenting, especially regarding externalizing problems. The effects of contextual factors on grandchildren's adjustment were also indirect. The model's measurement and structural components were largely invariant across grandmothers' race and age, as well as grandchildren's gender and age. Group differences were more prevalent regarding the magnitude of latent means for model constructs. We conclude that parenting models like the FSM are useful for investigating custodial grandfamilies.

Grandparents raising grandchildren: investigating factors associated with distress among custodial grandparent

“…These findings confirm that acting as a custodial grandparent is associated with grandparental distress; that being a grandchild in such an arrangement is associated with emotional and behavioural problems; and, that grandchild and grandparental distress frequently co-occur. This finding is consistent with the modified Family Stress Model posited by Smith, Palmieri, Hancock, and Richardson (2008) who suggest that this relationship is bi-directional: grandparental distress can result in poor parenting practices which can precipitate poor grandchild adjustment, and grandchild internalising and externalising behaviours can lead to family dysfunction, precipitating grandparental distress. This model suggests that interventions designed to ameliorate grandparental distress will improve grandchildren's adjustment and vice versa.…”

“…While the relationship between problem behaviours among grandchildren and custodial grandparental distress was confirmed, the study design makes it impossible to draw conclusions as to the direction of this relationship. Though previous models (e.g., the modified FSM model; Smith et al, 2008) have posited that this relationship may be bi-directional, this remains unproven in the literature. Future research is also needed to clarify the extent to which the parenting arrangements themselves contribute to the psychosocial stress experienced by grandparents and grandchildren.…”

“…To help chart the interrelationship of factors that may precipitate or help alleviate custodial grandparental distress, Smith et al (2008) described a modified version of the Family Stress Model (FSM; Conger et al, 2002). Within this model, psychological distress among custodial grandparents is described as a function of the health, education, income and levels of family and social support of the custodial grandparent.…”

“…Additionally, several treatment approaches have been described to assist custodial grandparents in developing parental skills for their grandchild such as the Grandparent Triple P program (GTP; Kirby & Sanders, 2014) and the Parental Skills/Psychosocial Skills Training Program (PSPSTP; Hayslip, 2003). Interventions designed to improve custodial grandparental parenting skills are especially pertinent in light of research that posits a significant positive relationship between grandchild behaviour and custodial grandparental distress (Smith et al, 2008). If custodial grandparents are provided with parenting strategies to assist with correcting problematic grandchild behaviour, grandparental distress will be ameliorated.…”

Using the CES-D with custodial grandmothers: cross-validation and convergent validity

“…As the physical, emotional and social challenges of caregiving accumulate, it is likely that psychological stress will be experienced as well. Abundant research has documented an elevated risk for depressive symptoms among family caregivers to older adults, and this phemonena has similarly been found within national samples of CGMs [1–4]. Yet, little research has been conducted to examine the psychometric properties of instruments that are commonly used to assess depressive symptoms among custodial grandparents.…”