Representations of family relationships in children living with custodial grandparents

Abstract

Children's representations of family relationships were examined in relation to grandparent responsivity and depression, family sociodemographic risks, and children's behavior problems in custodial grandparent families. Using multiple methods, data were collected from 79 families with children aged 3 to 7.5 years. In 37 families, children were raised by grandparents as the result of maternal incarceration and, in 42 families, children lived with grandparents because of other parental problems. Results indicated that children with representations of less optimal family relationships and children whose grandparents were less responsive to them at home were more likely to exhibit externalizing behavior problems. In addition, children were more likely to include relationship violence in their story stem enactments when grandparents reported elevated depressive symptoms. Results suggest links among grandparent depression, quality of children's family relationships, and children's behavior problems in grandparent-headed households.

The pathway to grandparenting stress: trauma, relational conflict, and emotional well-being

“…Research to date has examined the well-being of grandparents (Baker & Silverstein, 2008a;Butler & Zakari, 2005;Gerard, Landry-Meyer, & Roe, 2006;Hayslip & Glover, 2008;Leder, Grinstead, & Torres, 2007;Neely-Barnes, Graff, & Washington, 2010), health behaviors of grandparents (Baker & Silverstein, 2008b), the role of grandparents (Landry-Meyer & Newman, 2004), policies and laws affecting custodial grandparents (Bratteli, Bjelde, & Pigatti, 2008;Cox, 2009;Robinson-Dooley & Kropf, 2006;Van Etten & Gautam, 2012), services (Campbell, Carthron, Miles, & Brown, 2012;Collins, 2011;Cox, 2008;Kelley, Whitley, & Campos, 2010), the grandparentÀgrandchild relationship (Dolbin-MacNab & Keiley, 2006;Poehlmann et al, 2008), the health and achievement of grandchildren (Smith & Palmieri, 2007), and ethnic and cultural implications for grandfamilies (Carr, Hayslip, & Gray, 2012); Conway, Jones, & Speakes-Lewis, 2011;Kelch-Oliver, 2008). The literature has been primarily cross-sectional in nature and has focused on establishing an empiricallybased understanding of the needs of grandfamilies.…”

The Effect of Grandparents’ Co-parenting on Young Children’s Personality and Adaptation: Chinese Three-generation-families

“…In the U.S., grandparent-headed households increased 30% from 1990 to 2000, and parents are entirely absent in many of these households (Simmons & Dye, 2000). Researchers have taken an interest in the wellbeing of the children and their grandparents in such special situations (Poehlmann, Park, Bouffiou, Abrahams, Shlafer, & Hahn, 2008;Ross & Aday, 2006). However, few studies have addressed the wellbeing or development of young children who live in normal families but are raised or co-parented by their grandparents.…”

“…Compared with the children raised by young parents, those raised by grandparents tend to be involved in less social or outdoor activities due to the grandparents' physical weakness (Poehlmann et al, 2008;Li, 2013) and comparatively low social economic status (Fuller- Thompson, Minkler, & Driver, 1997). Thus, it is assumed that grandparents' co-parenting will influence children's pro-social behavior or reaction in strange situations.…”

Mental Health Service Needs in the Prison Boom: The Case of Children of Incarcerated Mothers

“…Nevertheless, one of the most critical concerns faced by these children involves their development of mental health problems (Murray & Farrington, 2008b;Poehlmann et al, 2008). Indeed, several studies have shown anxiety, depression, and other internalizing problems to be common among children of incarcerated mothers (Geller, Garfinkel, Cooper, & Mincy, 2009;Kampfner, 1995;Phillips, Burns, Wagner, Kramer, & Robbins, 2002).…”