Although most related research has focused on grandparents raising grandchildren, studies of grandmothers in multigenerational homes and those providing extensive care to grandchildren suggest that these grandmothers also may face health risks, including depressive symptoms ( Musil & Ahmad, 2002 Szinovacz, DeViney & Atkinson, 1999 Szinovacz & Davey, 2006). A number of studies have examined the well-being of grandmother caregivers, and many have concluded that grandparents who are very involved in caregiving to grandchildren are at greater risk of depression and other health problems than their non-caregiving peers ( Kelley, Whitley, Sipe, & Crofts Yorker, 2000 Fuller-Thomson & Minkler, 2001 Lee, Colditz, Berkman, & Kawachi, 2003). In nearly 91% of these families, the co-resident grandparent is a grandmother, and she, alone or with a spouse, heads the household ( Simmons & Dye, 2003). According to the 2000 United States Census, 4.1 million, or 3.9 % of households include grandparents and grandchildren, and of these, 34% have no parent present.
0 kommentar(er)
