Kinship Care Effects on Behavioral Outcomes for African American Children

Background: Kinship care has historically been a common practice among African American / Black families, and African American / Black children continue to be overrepresented in kinship caregiving arrangements when compared with White and other non-children. The ability of African American / Black families to provide kinship care under extenuating circumstances is valued as a community strength, and benefits for children’s well-being and safety can result from these arrangements. However, serious burdens for kinship caregivers often occur from limited resources and support and challenges with birth parents. Systemic and cultural barriers between African American / Black caregivers and service providers can also present significant challenges. These conditions altogether can place children at significant risk for social and behavior problems and academic difficulties. Limited research exists about the impact of kinship care on children’s behavior problems. Given this gap in research, the aim of our study is to examine the relationships between families’ resources and functioning, birth parent involvement, racial socialization, and behavioral problems among children in African American / Black kinship care families.

Methods: This study’s sample consists of quantitative survey data collected from Black / African-American kinship caregivers from North Carolina’s Triad and surrounding areas in the Piedmont region. Children’s behavioral problems (aggression, anxiety, conduct problems, depression, hyperactivity, and somatization) were measured with the Behavioral Assessment System for Children (BASC) Parent Rating Scales. Given the inclusion of households with multiple children, multilevel modeling was used to assess the effects of family-level factors of these households on children’s behavioral outcomes.

Results: After controlling for important covariates, findings revealed that higher levels of caregiver’s stress were significantly associated with higher levels of aggression, anxiety, conduct problems, depression, and hyperactivity among the children they are caring for (p<.05). When compared with formal kinship caregivers, informal kinship caregivers reported significantly higher levels of conduct problems among their children (p<.05). However, findings suggest that stronger relationships between the children and their kinship caregivers were significantly associated with lower levels of aggression, conduct problems, depression, and hyperactivity (p<.05). Stronger relationships between the children and their birth mothers were also significantly associated with lower levels of aggression, depression and hyperactivity (p<.05). No significant relationships between families’ resources and family functioning were found in this sample.

Conclusions and Implications: Our preliminary findings suggest higher levels of stress and behavioral problems among African American / Black kinship care families which may be lessened with interventions which strengthen the relationships between the children and their caregivers and birth mothers. Given the finding that informal kinship care was significantly associated with conduct problems, additional research is needed to further understand the experiences of informal kinship care on African American / Black children’s behavioral problems.