Many studies document the challenges of natural caregivers who take care of their elders, those with a loss of autonomy or suffering from dementia. Few studies point out that many grandparents, in good physical and mental shape, contribute to the care and education of their grandchildren. Yet the number of these caregivers dedicated to the youngest is just as growing. This research presented at the 2018 American Academy of Pediatrics Conference (Orlando) salutes these grandparents and their key role in confirming that these caregivers “do the work too.”
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Millions of children are raised almost solely by their grandparents, and the number of these children continues to increase due to multiple factors that “disrupt” families. We think of new modes of professional activity, financial difficulties that can reduce access to different types of childcare, the authors also cite - for the United States - the opioid crisis, the prevalence of which threatens a large number of families. Thus, these caregivers who are raising their grandchildren overcome unique challenges and occupy an indispensable place. Lead author Dr. Andrew Adesman, Chief of Pediatrics at the Cohen Pediatric Center in New York summarizes the situation: "A significant and growing number of mothers and fathers are unable to fulfill their parental responsibilities, prompting their own parents to assume the role of educator and caregiver for their grandchildren. If these children are more likely to have suffered one or more negative childhood experiences and if the grandparents also face their own health problems and financial difficulties, our results suggest that they are doing well. very good ".
The study is the first to look at a nationally representative sample of children and compare the homes in which children are raised by their grandparents and other homes. The researchers analyzed data from the National Survey of Children's Health (2016) on 44,807 parent-run homes and 1,250 grandparent-run homes.
Caregiver grandparents somewhat less advantaged than average: Analysis shows that caregivers who are raising their grandchildren are more likely to have more physical and mental health problems, incomes below or equal to the threshold poverty, lower education and being single. Their grandchildren show a few characteristics: less emotional control, reduced coping skills and other behavioral problems. This last point does not surprise researchers who note, in clinical practice, that children not looked after by parents have generally had more unfavorable experiences in their childhood and thus present an increased risk of behavioral disorders.
But on other measures of "parenthood", grandparents and parents do the same: thus, the analysis does not identify any difference between grandparents and parents on the way in which they judge the behavior of the child, the difficulty caring for him, or their feelings towards him. In fact, grandparents and parents did not differ on measures of parent or grandparent adaptability to child, parental or caregiver stress, interactions with child. Finally, the need and lack of parenting advice is felt by a significant proportion of grandparents (31%) and parents (24%).
This need for emotional support in caring for children is probably the takeaway from this study.
Moreover, the authors call on paediatricians and other child health professionals, in particular those who deal with large families, to be more aware of this form of distress in the face of parenthood and its responsibilities.
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