Abstract
Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many families, including grandparent kinship families, to deal with a health/economic crisis. The fear of COVID-19 plus stay-at-home orders have increased individuals’ psychological distress. Moreover, school closures and homeschooling further increased parenting stress among caregivers. Objectives: This study examined the relationship between material hardship and parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers, and assessed grandparents’ mental health as a potential mediator to this relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Participants and setting: Grandparent kinship providers (N = 362) that took primary care of their grandchildren participated in a cross-sectional survey via Qualtrics Panels in June 2020 in the United States. Methods: Descriptive and bivariate analyses, binary logistic regression, and mediation analyses were conducted using STATA 15.0. Results: Suffering material hardship was significantly associated with higher odds of experiencing parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers, and grandparents’ mental health partially mediated this association. Conclusions: Addressing material and mental health needs among grandparent kinship providers is critical to decreasing their parenting stress.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | 104700 |
Journal | Child Abuse and Neglect |
Volume | 110 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 2020 |
Keywords
- COVID-19
- Grandparent kinship providers
- Material hardship
- Mental health
- Parenting stress
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Pediatrics, Perinatology, and Child Health
- Developmental and Educational Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health