Grandparents' Mental Health and Lived Experiences while Raising Their Grandchildren at the Forefront of COVID-19 in Saudi Arabia

Latent profile analysis of depression and its influencing factors in older adults raising grandchildren in China

OBJECTIVE

To explore the latent profile of depression in older adults raising grandchildren in China, and to analyze the differences in the characteristics of the different profiles of the population and the factors influencing them.

METHODS

This study utilized the 2018 China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS). Through a cross-sectional study, the latent profile analysis was used to analyze the potential classification of depression among older adults raising grandchildren, and using ordered multi-categorical logistic regression analyses to assess the effects of each factor on their different classifications.

RESULTS

The 1271 older adults raising grandchildren with depression symptoms were divided into three categories: low-level depression (55.4%), moderate-level depression (31.2%), and high-level depression (13.4%). Ordered multi-categorical Logistic results showed: Gender, marital status, pension insurance, physical health status, life satisfaction, and IADL were predictors of latent profile classification of depression symptoms in older adults raising grandchildren (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS

In the future of primary care, it will be more meaningful to provide targeted interventions for different subgroups of depression in older adults raising grandchildren.

Grandparent Caregivers Lived Experiences and Resource Needs/Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This project examined the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on grandparent caregivers, grandchildren, family dynamics, and resources to mitigate and navigate crises. Phone interviews were conducted with 24 grandparent caregivers using a semi-structured interview guide. Caregivers explained that the pandemic had impacted them and their grandchildren by increasing emotional distress, social isolation, financial difficulties, and challenges with education. Helpful resources consisted of financial support, respite care, and support for grandchildren. Thus, there is a need to provide grandparent caregivers with the same resources that foster care providers receive - particularly when faced with challenges such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Twelve Ds: An Update to Edwards and Benson's Reasons for Non-Parental Caregiving

This qualitative study examined the prevalence of the "Nine Ds," a framework developed by Edwards and Benson for understanding the heterogeneity of reasons for which grandparents assume care of grandchildren (i.e., death, disease, detention, divorce, departure, drugs, desertion, delivery, deployment) in a contemporary sample. Using a nationwide sample of custodial grandparents (N = 322) and foster parents (N = 105), caregivers were asked their reason for assuming care of the grandchild or foster child within their care. The results of the study suggest that the Nine Ds are a useful framework, but accounted for only 21.74% of responses, indicating the Nine Ds fail to capture many of the reasons for assuming care. Three new themes-dollars, duty, and daily grind-were identified using semantic thematic analysis and are applicable to both grandfamilies and foster families. These themes represent different motivations for assuming care and provide insight into the social structures that may act as barriers to family formation. This study provides a foundation for future research examining the impact of assumed care by non-parental attachment figures on the health and well-being of both grandchildren and foster children.