Internalizing Symptoms in Children Being Reared by Grandparents in Rural Appalachia: Risk and Protective Factors

Peggy Keller; Shuang Bi; Nancy Schoenberg

doi:10.1177/0192513X211048477

Internalizing Symptoms in Children Being Reared by Grandparents in Rural Appalachia: Risk and Protective Factors

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

1 Scopus citations

Abstract

The present study investigates factors associated with anxiety, depression, and stress in children being reared by their grandparents in rural Appalachia. Grandparent-headed households, in which grandparents have primary responsibility for care of children, are increasing in number. However, research is needed on child risk for internalizing symptoms in this context. Participants included 35 children aged 5–18 years and one of their custodial grandparents. Interviewers read questionnaires to grandparents and children assessing family functioning and child mental health and participants indicated their answers. Mean scores for child internalizing symptoms and stress were on the higher end of the scale of measurement. Lower grandparent positive parenting, grandparent not having formal custody of children, greater grandparent mental health issues, lower grandparent education, and lower financial status were correlated with greater child anxiety, depression, and stress. Results also indicated that correlates of children’s internalizing symptoms differed based on child sex and age.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	386-408
Number of pages	23
Journal	Journal of Family Issues
Volume	44
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X211048477
State	Published - Feb 2023

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2021.

Funding

The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This study was supported by a grant awarded to the third author from the Retirement Research Foundation, an Igniting Research Collaborations grant awarded to the first and third authors by the University of Kentucky, and a small grant awarded to the first author from the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science (CCTS). The CCTS is funded by the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, National Institutes of Health, through grant number UL1TR001998. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Retirement Research Foundation or the NIH.

Funders	Funder number
National Institutes of Health (NIH)	UL1TR001998
Retirement Research Foundation
National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS)
University of Kentucky
Center for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Illinois at Chicago
Center for Clinical and Translational Science, University of Utah
University of Kentucky, Center for Clinical and Translational Science

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being

Keywords

Appalachia
anxiety
children
depression
grandparents
internalizing

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Social Sciences (miscellaneous)

Access to Document

10.1177/0192513X211048477

Cite this

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abstract = "The present study investigates factors associated with anxiety, depression, and stress in children being reared by their grandparents in rural Appalachia. Grandparent-headed households, in which grandparents have primary responsibility for care of children, are increasing in number. However, research is needed on child risk for internalizing symptoms in this context. Participants included 35 children aged 5–18 years and one of their custodial grandparents. Interviewers read questionnaires to grandparents and children assessing family functioning and child mental health and participants indicated their answers. Mean scores for child internalizing symptoms and stress were on the higher end of the scale of measurement. Lower grandparent positive parenting, grandparent not having formal custody of children, greater grandparent mental health issues, lower grandparent education, and lower financial status were correlated with greater child anxiety, depression, and stress. Results also indicated that correlates of children{\textquoteright}s internalizing symptoms differed based on child sex and age.",

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Internalizing Symptoms in Children Being Reared by Grandparents in Rural Appalachia: Risk and Protective Factors

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Access to Document

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