Grandparent caregivers to their grandchild(ren) is a growing population that is not completely understood. This study explored the challenges faced by grandparent caregivers to their grandchild(ren) and how being part of a kinship support group can help in addressing the challenges. A qualitative research design was used for the purpose of gathering first account narratives from the participants in the study. California Family Life Center, a kinship support agency was contacted and allowed the researcher to reach out to grandparents who were interested in taking part of the study. Seven participants took part in this study. This study concluded that grandparent caregivers are presented with challenges such as: an impact in their social life, making adjustments to their retirement plans and learning to cope through support from the kinship support group. The Loss and Grief Theory and Erikson’s Developmental Stages, generativity vs. stagnation provided an analysis and a better interpretation from the data collected from the participants. Results from the study suggest that being part of a kinship support group for participants has been beneficial to them as they come to better understand their current situation through the kinship support group. Nevertheless, the challenges are still present in their everyday lives. Implications for practice, policy and research are also discussed.

Submitted by Ana Carla Almeida (ana.almeida@ucsal.br) on 2016-09-14T18:25:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Rosa Maria da Motta Azambuja.pdf: 2819041 bytes, checksum: 4677b8cfdae44c7a23d911e11603be00 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Maria Emília Carvalho Ribeiro (maria.ribeiro@ucsal.br) on 2016-09-15T21:40:41Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Rosa Maria da Motta Azambuja.pdf: 2819041 bytes, checksum: 4677b8cfdae44c7a23d911e11603be00 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-15T21:40:41Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese - Rosa Maria da Motta Azambuja.pdf: 2819041 bytes, checksum: 4677b8cfdae44c7a23d911e11603be00 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-04 / Agência 1 / Este estudo toma como objeto o cuidar dos avós visto pelos netos em idade escolar tendo como base a Teoria Bioecológica do Desenvolvimento Humano. Entre os núcleos apresentados na teoria, priorizou-se a análise da pessoa, processo, contexto e tempo observados na interação entre a díade. Com o objetivo de compreender as circunstâncias vinculares e os posicionamentos recíprocos entre avós-netos, focalizando a visão dos netos, a partir do contexto bio-sócio-histórico, realizou-se estudos de casos múltiplos em uma escola particular de classe média na cidade do Salvador, Bahia, Brasil e que oferece sistema de bolsa para alunos filhos dos funcionários de baixa renda. Participaram do estudo seis crianças, três estudantes do sexo feminino e três do sexo masculino, na faixa etária de 6 a 9 anos de idade, de classe média e três de classe baixa de ambos os sexos do Ensino Fundamental juntamente com suas avós. A partir de questões básicas acerca do modo como os netos percebem o significado de seu relacionamento com os avós cuidadores e como as relações intergeracionais podem ser diferentes em função do gênero quanto ao desenvolvimento e formação pessoal e social dos netos, realizou-se quatro procedimentos: entrevista com os netos, utilizando instrumentos da perspectiva educacional (roda de conversa e álbum de imagens) e a análise da interação avósnetos a partir de instrumentos da teoria sistêmica (jogo compartilhado) e psicopedagógica (caixa lúdica). Os principais resultados apontam que o significado dos avós segundo o olhar das crianças varia de acordo com o tipo de convivência: para os netos de tempo integral, os avós são vistos como cuidadores, para os do tipo sistemático, como companheiros; e para os esporádicos, brincalhões. Há diferença nas relações intergeracionais em função de gênero: enquanto as avós realizam atividades em espaços internos, como jogo educativo e eletrônico, os avôs preferem os espaços externos, como jogo de salão, futebol na praia para interagir com os netos. Deste modo, compreender a criança como membro da família e como objeto de cuidado corresponde a uma visão de desenvolvimento como molar, em que, para as crianças, o cuidar envolve uma articulação estreita com a convivência e a interação. / This study takes as its focus grandparent caregivers as seen by schoolchildren, based on the Bioecological Theory of Human Development. This theory assumes the standpoint of the analysis of the person, process, context and time, by observing the interaction between the dyad adult/child. In order to understand the bonding circumstances and reciprocal positions between grandparents and grandchildren, through the eyes of grandchildren and based on the bio-socio-historical context, multiple case studies were performed in a private school with middle- and low-income students, located in the city of Salvador. The study, submitted and approved by the Committee of Ethics in Research, included six elementary school students, three female and three male, between the ages of six and nine years, along with their grandparents. From basic questions about how the grandchildren view the significance of their relationship with grandparents, and how intergenerational relations with grandparents may differ by gender as to the development of personal and social education, four procedures were performed: interviews with the grandchildren using instruments of educational perspective (circle of conversation and album of images); and analyses of the interaction between grandparents and grandchildren using psycho-pedagogic instruments (game boxes) and those of systems theory (shared game). The main results show that the meaning of grandparents varies according to the mode of co-habitation, for the full-time caring for grandchildren, the grandparents were seen as caretakers; for the systematic, as companions; and the sporadic, as pranksters. There was a difference in intergenerational relationships according to gender: In order to interact with their grandchildren, women perform activities in internal spaces with educational and electronic games, while men prefer activities that occur in external spaces, such as parlor games or football on the beach. Thus, understanding the child as a family member and as the object of care corresponds to a vision of development as molar, in which, for the children, being taking care of involves close articulation with coexistence and interaction.

Grandparent-headed families are diverse in nature and represent a rapidly growing family type. While challenges facing grandparent caregivers are well documented, less is known about the well-being of their grandchildren, with many early studies relying on small samples of convenience. This study used an existing large national database, the National Survey of America's Families (NSAF), to compare differences in well-being of both children and grandparent caregivers across the independent variables of family type, ethnicity, gender, and age. Findings suggested better mental health and less parental aggravation for caregivers in traditional two parent intact families as compared to grandparents co-parenting in a multi-generation home, skipped generation grandparents (raising their grandchild with no parent present) or single parents. Skipped generation grandparents in particular reported most caregiver aggravation. Child physical health was reported to be worse by skipped generation grandparent caregivers. Behavior problems were reported to be worse for children in grandparent headed households than those in traditional families, particularly for teenagers raised in skipped generation households by their grandmothers. Specific results, limitations and future directions for research on grandparent-headed households were discussed.