Research That Matters (January 17 - 20, 2008)

Custodial grand-parenting is becoming increasingly common in the United States particularly in African-American families (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 2002). Yet, little is known about the mental and physical health of custodial grandparents. The purpose of this study was (1) to examine the patterns of mental and physical health in a sample of custodial grandparents; (2) to understand how grandparent health is related to the support that grandparents receive; (3) to understand how grandparent health is related to characteristics of grandchildren in their care.

Methods

119 custodial grandparents were recruited from the Shelby County Tennessee Relative Caregiver program to participate in this study. The respondents were primarily grandmothers (n=116) and primarily African-American (n=112). The SF-12 Health Survey was used to measure mental and physical health. A latent profile analysis (LPA), using Mplus version 3, was employed to model grandparent health profiles. Indicators for the LPA included the eight subscales of the SF-12: physical functioning, role physical, bodily pain, general health, vitality, social functioning, role emotional, and mental health. Once classes were identified, chi-square tests were used to examine the relationship between grandparent health, grandchild problems, and grandparent support. In addition, an ANOVA was used to examine the relationship between grandparent health and number of grandchildren in care. A Scheffe post-hoc test was used to identify significant differences between classes.

Results

The LPA was completed, and fit statistics indicated that the three-class model (BIC=8789) fit the data best. The first class (n=26), the “poor health” group, had low mental and physical health across all indicators. The second class (n=44), the “mixed health” group, had high means on physical health but low means on mental health. The third class (n=49), the “good health” group, had high means on both mental and physical health.

A chi-square test indicated a significant difference between classes on “grandparent gets enough help and support” (χ² = 9.41, p = .009) and child chronic health conditions (χ² = 9.74, p = .008). In both cases, grandparents with a mixed health profile reported significantly less help and support and significantly more child chronic health conditions than grandparents with a good health profile. Finally, an ANOVA (F=6.25, p=.003) indicated that grandparents with a mixed health profile reported significantly more children in custody (mean=2.51) than those with a good health profile (mean=1.67). No significant differences were noted between grandparents with poor health and other classes.

Implications for practice

The findings indicate a need for social workers to pay particular attention to custodial grandparents caring for a large number of grandchildren or grandchildren with chronic conditions. These grandparents, who were at high risk for mental health problems and for lacking adequate help and support, could benefit from individualized support and assistance. In addition, future research is needed, particularly with custodial grandparents who experience poor health, to understand other factors not measured in this study impact their health.

Reference

United States Bureau of the Census (2002). Current Population Reports 2002. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.