1. The document summarizes a study comparing parenting challenges among grandparent caregivers and other relative caregivers. 2. Survey results showed grandparent caregivers experienced higher levels of parenting stress and were older than other relative caregivers. 3. Qualitative focus groups found both groups experienced similar stressors from the children's behavior and biological parents, but grandparent caregivers faced additional stress from caring for aging spouses and feelings of guilt. 4. The conclusions call for better mental health services for kinship families and recognition of grandparent caregivers' unique needs.

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. Mixed Methods
• Survey Data Collection
– Phone Interview lasting 30-50 minutes
– May 2013 - September 2014
– Incentives
– N=303

6. 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

7. 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

8. 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

9. 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%

10. 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

11. Results 1: T-tests and chi-squares
Variables GPCG (n=214)
Mean (SD) / N (%)
ORCG (n=86)
Mean (SD)/ N (%)
t-score /
chi-squared
p-value
Age (years) 55.77 (9.21) 43.39 (11.9) 9.631 <0.001
Caregiver race/ethnicity
White (Non-Hispanic)
Black (Non-Hispanic)
Hispanic
Other
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 income
Under 20,000
20,000 – 50,000
Over 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 children
none
one
two
three 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 children
one
two
three 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 <0.001
Family needs scale 1.37 (0.83) 1.57 (0.83) 1.770 0.078
Parental distress 28.41 (9.00) 23.87 (8.19) 3.927 <0.001
Clinically significant level (>35) of PD
yes
no
35 (18.2)
157 (81.8)
9 (11.0)
73 (89.0)
2.243 .153

12. 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

13. Result 3: Multiple Regression
Step 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

14. 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.

15. Qualitative Results:
Sources of Parenting Stress
• Caregiver personal
• Kinship child(ren)
• Biological parent of kinship child(ren)
• Peer or family of kinship caregiver
• Institutional

16. Qualitative Results: Similarities
• Kinship child(ren)’s behavior
• Conflicts with biological parent
• Biological parent addiction
• Child welfare
• Department of Social Services

17. Qualitative Results - Differences

18. 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

19. Conclusions
• Limitations
– A non representative survey sample
– PD was never tested on kin caregivers
– Selection bias for a focus group sample

20. 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

21. 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