Recent studies have reported that caregiving by grandmothers to grandchildren may be deleterious to the grandmother’s health. This study examines whether family structure relative to grandmother involvement with grandchildren affects her mental health, and whether her resources of social support and learned resourcefulness affect the relationship between stress (intra-family strain and family stresses) and mental health. The model for this study is adapted from the Resiliency Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation (McCubbin & McCubbin, 1996). It was tested in a cross-sectional, comparative analysis of 486 Ohio grandmothers with varying caregiving responsibility to grandchildren: primary caregiver grandmothers raising grandchildren (n=181); grandmothers in multi-generational homes (n=135); and non-caregivers to grandchildren (n=170). Study participants were recruited by random digit dialing with supplemental convenience sampling of primary caregiver grandmothers. Using SEM analysis (AMOS), we tested the fit of each group’s data to the hypothesized model. Mental health was represented as a latent factor using four SF-36 mental health subscales and the CES-D score. Two dimensions of learned resourcefulness (self-efficacy and self-control) and two types of support (subjective and instrumental) were evaluated. Intra-family strain, but not stresses, affected grandmothers’ mental health. For primary grandmothers, more support and higher learned resourcefulness contributed to better mental health (CFI=.97). For grandmothers living in multi-generational homes, learned resourcefulness affected mental health; support did not (CFI=.97). For non-caregivers, subjective support and self-efficacy affected mental health outcomes (CFI=.94). Next, a test of the invariance of the measurement and structural models across the three groups suggested general similarity in the paths between factors, but differences between groups in the means of latent constructs, including mental health. These findings provide evidence that while intra-family strain jeopardizes mental health, resourcefulness enhances it, especially for women involved with caregiving to grandchildren. Providing interventions to bolster resourcefulness and manage strain in caregivers remains critical.
Session #1190 - Life Span
The 29th Annual MNRS Research Conference (April 1-4, 2005)