The Relationship between Child Well-Being, Caregiving Stress, and Social Engagement Among Informal and Formal Kinship Care Families

Background and Purpose: Children in kinship families are increasing in number. They can be particularly vulnerable due to adverse experiences before placement and exposure to risk factors associated with social isolation. Without reliable support from social relationships, caregivers may have greater caregiving stress which may worsen children’s development. However, the well-being of children in kinship families and associated factors are understudied. Guided by the Family Resiliency Model, this study investigates the following hypotheses: (1) Caregiving stress is negatively related to child well-being; (2) Caregiver social engagement is positively related to child well-being; and (3) Social engagement buffers the negative relationship between caregiving stress and child well-being.

Methods: Using data from the 1999 and 2002 National Survey of America’s Families, weighted multivariate ordinary least squares regression analyses were performed with a sample of 1,623 children who were cared for by relatives without a biological parent present in the household. The child well-being outcomes include health well-being (i.e., global child health measure), psychological well-being (i.e., Child Behavioral and Emotional Problems Scale), and educational well-being (i.e., Child School Engagement Scale). The independent variables are, caregiving stress, measured by the Parenting Aggravation Scale, and social engagement, measured by a) volunteer activity participation and/or b) religious service attendance. Specifically, this study examines the relationship between caregiving stress and child well-being, adjusting kinship family characteristics and state-fixed effects. The moderating effect of social engagement on the relationship between caregiving stress and child well-being is further examined.

Results: Findings from the analyses suggest that after controlling for the covariates, caregiving stress is negatively associated with two domains of child well-being: psychological and educational well-being. Kinship caregivers’ higher levels of caregiving stress are related to better child behavior (b = -.41/-.24, p < .001) and school engagement (b = -.21, p < .001), but are not significantly related to child health (b= .001, p = .936). Additionally, caregiver social engagement is found to be positively associated with younger child behavior (aged 6-11). Specifically, when the caregiver participates in volunteer activities at least once a week, the child has better behavior (b = .59, p = .038). Social engagement is also found to be a significant moderator. Caregiver weekly engagement in volunteer activities buffers the negative relationship between caregiving stress and young child behavior (b = .30, p = .026); however, weekly engagement in religious services worsens the negative relationship between caregiving stress and child school engagement (b = -.21, p = .032).

Conclusions and Implications: Findings from this study reveal that caregiving stress is a significant risk factor and social engagement is a significant protective factor associated with children’s psychological and educational well-being among kinship families. Implications for practice can be drawn, especially in relation to how improvements can be made in reducing caregivers’ stress, increasing opportunities for social engagement, and further promoting children’s behavioral and cognitive development. Practical plans can include assessing social networks for kinship families, developing parenting programs with knowledge about children’s behavior, and increasing the awareness of needs of kinship families in the community.