| Learning Objective #1: Describe the health status of grandparent caregivers and behaviors of their grandchildren | |||
| Learning Objective #2: Identify predictors of grandparents' health status |
Objectives: The objectives are to: a) assess the health status of grandparent caregivers and behaviors of their grandchildren, and b) identify predictors of grandparents’ health status.
Design: A descriptive correlational design was used.
Concept/Variable: Family support, grandchild behavior problems, parenting stress and general life stress were related to dimensions of grandparent mental and physical health.
Population, Sample, Setting: A convenience sample of 43 grandparents raising grandchildren was recruited from caregiver support groups in a Midwest state.
Methods: The primary grandparent caregiver of the oldest grandchild no older than 18 years was interviewed by telephone, using the following instruments: a) Family Support Scale, b) Life Stress Scale, c) Parental Distress Scale, d) Child Behavior Checklist, and e) SF-36 Health Survey. Descriptive statistics and Pearson’s correlation were used to analyze the data.
Findings: The following statistically significant relationships were found: a) Higher child behavior problem scores were associated with grandparent health problems in the domains of general health, vitality, pain, social functioning, and mental health; b) greater parenting stress was associated with problems in physical functioning, vitality, social functioning, and mental health; c) greater family support was associated with more positive health in the domains of physical functioning, pain, physical role functioning, social functioning, and mental health. General life stress was not associated with any of the dimensions of grandparent health.
Conclusions/Implications: A number of statistically significant relationships were found among stress, support, and grandparents’ health, but the nature of these relationships is unclear. Future studies should focus on longitudinal research in which grandparent support systems, life stress and health are followed over time to determine the nature of the relationships.
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