Thesis (M.A.)--Eastern Illinois University, 1987. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 24-28).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on October 30, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 239-257).

Master of Public Health / Public Health Interdepartmental Program / Mark D. Haub / Millions of U.S. grandparents are responsible for providing parental care, in the absence of the biological parent, for at least one grandchild under the age of 18 years. These caregivers may base their wellness and nutrition practices with their grandchildren on outdated advice. In 2010, Kansas State University Human Nutrition Cooperative Extension Service faculty launched a theory-based newsletter, entitled Nourishing the Next Generation, that was mailed six times per year to low-income grandparent caregivers, and posted on a public website (at http://www.k-state.edu/humannutrition/newsletters/nourishing-the-next-generation/index.html). Each issue disseminated small amounts of practical, specific, “how-to” nutrition- and wellness-related information that addressed topics identified as being of concern to this population and that used recommended word choice, format, and design principles. After five years of Nourishing the Next Generation being in circulation, we surveyed readers who had received it from one to five years in order to assess the impact it had and to highlight its strengths. This study combined qualitative and quantitative approaches by using written surveys with both open- and closed-ended questions. Two different types of participants who had received the newsletter, grandparent caregivers and community educators, received surveys. A total of 54 valid surveys were returned from the 492 that were sent to grandparent caregivers, while 30 out of 175 community educators completed surveys. The newsletter was perceived by responding grandparent caregivers to be very effective in improving their awareness, knowledge, motivation, and confidence to follow recommendations about healthy eating and physical activity. Also, reading it led to many self-reported positive changes in various nutrition, physical activity, and other wellness practices among 91 percent of the responding grandparent caregivers and their families. In addition, 70 percent of responding community educators used its contents extensively to disseminate information to wider audiences. In conclusion, including grandparent caregivers in wellness-related educational programs could be a good approach to target healthy lifestyle practices of both older and younger generations. An appropriately designed newsletter can effectively improve the health of a large number of people, yet has limited costs, and thus, is an excellent public health method.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Literature evidence on challenges facing the grandparents caring for AIDS orphaned children has shown inaccessibility to health care services, inability to afford basic needs, absence of social security provisions (with the exception of the pension scheme) and lack of attention from the government and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). In South Africa, there is insufficient documented evidence of available sustainable approaches to supporting grandparents caring for AIDS orphans in all health dimensions. This study aimed to develop strategies to improve support for grandparents caring for AIDS orphans in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Family Systems Theory provides a framework for examining how values are transmitted between family members, and the overall impact transmission has on familial well-being. While familial emotional closeness has been linked to older-adult well-being, there is still a lack of research investigating the influence of ideological agreement between family members. This study examined grandparent-child and grandparent-grandchild dyads to assess the extent to which level of agreement on religious and political ideological beliefs moderates the relation between perceived intergenerational emotional closeness and well-being in grandparents. Affectual solidarity ratings among the generations, as well as religious ideological differences between grandparents and grandchildren, were found to influence well-being in grandparents. Model fit was excellent for both moderation models. These findings suggest that emotional closeness is a predominant factor in predicting well-being in grandparents that may not be as heavily influenced by the level of agreement on ideological beliefs, as is often assumed.

Current literature establishes a relationship between maternal depression and offspring depression. Goodman and Gotlib’s “Developmental Model for Understanding Mechanisms of Transmission” suggests possible mechanisms including attachment. Prior research also demonstrates a link between fathers’ depression and pediatric psychopathology risk, but further research is needed to elucidate the effect of other non-parental caregivers. Children raised by both types of non-parental caregivers are vulnerable to attachment disruptions due to separation from their parental caregivers and the prevalence of children residing with these caregivers is on the rise in recent years. Using the Goodman and Gotlib framework, this study examined the relation between caregiver depressive symptoms and child depressive symptoms via attachment. Findings suggest that attachment indeed mediates the relation and further, that there were group differences in child’s attachment level between foster children and grandchildren.

No description available.

Adoption is an important family structure in The United States. In 2013, more than 1.7 million children were adopted including domestic, International, and foster care adoptions in the U.S. I examine the perceived and received support from grandparents to adoptive families and the impact it has on the families' lives. Qualitative methods in the form of semi-structured open-ended interviews were used to conduct 28 interviews with adoptive parents. My findings reveal that maternal grandmothers were more likely to be supportive and involved in adoptive families compared to other grandparents. Secondly, perceived support was directly mentioned or implied by every adoptive family. Third, single mothers expressed more desire for and instances of grandparent support. Fourth, the majority of grandparents who were initially hesitant or reluctant about adoption were later supportive and accepting of the adopted child(ren). Fifth, most adoptive families received and perceived support. However, some families who did not receive or perceive much support were able to find alternative support systems. Finally, verbal and emotional supports were the most reported forms of support from grandparents to adoptive families. Almost all adoptive families reported some level of emotional and/or verbal support from one or more grandparent. Future research can more thoroughly examine family outcomes from grandparent support. Looking at the other support systems adoptive families use is an additional area of future research. / Ph. D.

This cross-sectional study compared three groups of grandparents, two custodial and one noncustodial, to identify and delineate the unique challenges and expectations faced by custodial grandparents due to their nontraditional roles while attempting to disentangle grandparental role demands from child-specific problems as sources of distress. Those grandparents raising grandchildren demonstrating neurological, physical, emotional, or behavioral problems exhibited the most distress, the most disruption of roles, and the most deteriorated grandparent-grandchild relationships. Although the custodial grandparents raising apparently normal grandchildren demonstrated less distress, less disruption of roles, and less deterioration of the grandparent-grandchild relationship than those grandparents raising grandchildren displaying problems, they still demonstrated higher levels than did traditional grandparents. Those grandparents who reported fewer resources, demonstrated poor attitudes regarding seeking mental health services, and reported raising grandchildren displaying problems had the lowest levels of adjustment.