Grandmothers’ Involvement among Preschoolers Growing Up in Poverty Michelle K. Boswell and Laura D. Pittman Northern Illinois University Poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL, May 28, 2004

Abstract Recent policy decisions associated with welfare reform and the foster care system put grandmothers in the position of serving as the safety net for their grandchildren when family problems arise. However, little is known about how varying types of grandmother involvement may influence children’s functioning. Data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study were used to explore how preschoolers function academically and psychologically over time based on grandmothers’ residential status and level of caretaking responsibility. Longitudinal regression analyses indicated that young children with custodial grandmothers lagged behind their peers in reading and quantitative skills. In addition, young children in multigenerational households were found to display more internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors over time.

The Role of Grandmothers Among African American and Hispanic American families extended kin play a more important role than in Caucasian families. Recent policy decisions have increased the likelihood that extended kin, especially grandmothers, will serve as safety nets in low-income families. Regulations for adolescent mothers require that they live with their own mothers. Kinship care in the foster care system is being promoted. 23% of child care in low-income families is provided by grandmothers. Grandparent-headed households rose by 70% between 1990 and 1997.

Grandparents and Child Functioning Children living with custodial grandparents have been found to have worse academic outcomes, but the link to behavioral problems has been inconsistent. Children living in multigenerational households (i.e., coresiding grandmothers) appear to have better mental health compared to single-parent households, but these findings are mixed if the mother is young. There is no known research on the specific influences of provision of child care by grandmothers. This research has often been limited by being cross- sectional in design and not taking into account co- occurring caregiver and family characteristics that may account for differences between children’s functioning.

Research Questions Does type of grandmother involvement predict differences in preschoolers’ quantitative skills, reading skills, internalizing problem behaviors, and externalizing problem behaviors over time? What child, caregiver, or family characteristics are associated with the differences in outcomes among preschoolers over time?

Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study 2402 families completed an in-home interview at Time 1 (1999) Children age 0-4 years or years 74% overall response rate Boston, Chicago, San Antonio 88% of families retained at Time 2 On average 16 months later In This study focuses on the 2-4 year old children with data from both time points.

Measurement Two-hour interview with primary caregiver Maternal caregivers reported on family background, health, income, material hardship, parenting and type of grandmother involvement Internalizing & Externalizing Problem Behaviors 100-item Child Behavior Checklist Reading & Quantitative Achievement Letter-Word Identification and Applied Problems subtests from the Woodcock-Johnson Psycho-educational Achievement Battery- Revised

Types of Grandmother Involvement Custodial: grandmother is the primary caregiver of child, no biological parent in home Coresiding: grandmother lives in home with child and biological parent(s) Caregiving: grandmother does not live in home but takes some or a lot of care of child Non-Caregiving: grandmother does not live in home and takes no or a little care of child Not present: grandmother is dead or uninvolved with child

Prevalence of Grandmother Types over Time

Caregivers’ Background Characteristics at Time 1 30 Years of Age Income-to-Needs Ratio =.84 29% Married 44% Below High School Education 51% Hispanic American 47% African American 2% Caucasian or Other Ethnicity

Analysis Plan The longitudinal analyses presented focused only on children who had the same type of grandmother involvement at Time 1 and Time 2 (N = 301). Regression analyses predicting children’s academic and socioemotional functioning longitudinally by type of grandmother involvement were completed. Model 1: Only type of grandmother involvement and corresponding Time 1 outcome were included in regression analyses. Model 2: Grandmother involvement, corresponding Time 1 outcome, and Time 1 background and family characteristics were included in regression analyses. To test for significant differences between types of grandmother involvement groups, post-hoc adjusted Wald Tests were performed.

Regression Analyses for Preschoolers’ Academic Achievement over Time by Type of Grandmother Involvement Quantitative Skills Reading Skills Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Time 1 outcome 0.49*** 0.46*** 0.59*** 0.49*** Grandmother status (omitted = not present) 1) Custodial * -0.18* ) Coresiding ) Caregiving ) Non-Caregiving Child’s age Child’s sex (high = female) * Caregiver’s age Race (omitted = Hispanic American) White African American Other Education (omitted = no degree) High school degree Vocational degree Income-to-Needs *** Caregiver’s marital status (omitted = single) Married Cohabiting Caregiver Health Problems Family Material Hardship Negative Parenting Provision of Structure Parental Engagement Posthocs 1<2+,5+ 1<2**,3*,4*,5* 1<2*,3*,4***,5* F-ratio R *** 0.32*** 0.16*** 0.30*** Note. Standardized beta coefficients are presented. +p <.10; *p<.05; **p <.01; ***p <.001

Preschoolers’ Academic Achievement over Time by Type of Grandmother Involvement Quantitative skills: Model 1: Children living with custodial grandmothers lagged behind children from some of the other groups at a trend level. Model 2: Differences between groups became statistically significant, where children with custodial grandmothers lagged behind their peers in all other groups in the development of their quantitative skills over time. Reading skills: Model 1: Children living with custodial grandmothers lagged behind children in all other groups. Model 2: The differences were no longer significant. Thus, co-occurring background characteristics appear to account for the differences in reading skills between children.

Regression Analyses for Preschoolers’ Socioemotional Functioning over Time by Type of Grandmother Involvement Internalizing Behavior Problems Externalizing Behavior Problems Model 1 Model 2 Model 1 Model 2 Time 1 outcome 0.37*** 0.38*** 0.38*** 0.38*** Grandmother status (omitted = not present) 1) Custodial ) Coresiding * ) Caregiving ) Non-Caregiving Child’s age Child’s sex (high = female) Caregiver’s age Race (omitted = Hispanic American) White 0.19* 0.15** African American * Other 0.07** 0.06* Education (omitted = no degree) High school degree Vocational degree Income-to-Needs Caregiver’s marital status (omitted = single) Married ** Cohabiting Caregiver Health Problems Family Material Hardship Negative Parenting Provision of Structure Parental Engagement Posthocs 2>1+,4*;3>4+ 2>1+,3*,4*,5* F-ratio R *** 0.32*** 0.20*** 0.33*** Note. Standardized beta coefficients are presented. +p <.10; *p<.05; **p <.01; ***p <.001

Preschoolers’ Socioemotional Functioning over Time by Type of Grandmother Involvement Internalizing problem behaviors: Model 1: Preschoolers with coresiding grandmothers exhibited more internalizing problem behaviors than their peers in some of the other groups. Model 2: These differences became nonsignificant. Thus, co-occurring background characteristics appear to account for these differences rather than the type of grandmother involvement. Externalizing problem behaviors: Model 1: Preschoolers with coresiding grandmothers exhibited more externalizing problem behaviors than their peers in most of the other groups. Model 2: These differences became nonsignificant. Thus, co-occurring background characteristics appear to account for these differences rather than the type of grandmother involvement.

Child, Caregiver, and Family Characteristics It appears that co-occurring background characteristics accounted for differences in many child adjustment outcomes, with the type of grandmother involvement no longer having a significant association. Race appeared to be significantly associated with both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors over time, such that Hispanic American children displayed lower levels of problem behaviors than African American or Caucasian children. However, race was not significantly related to children’s academic achievement. Caregiver’s marital status was significantly associated with child outcomes. Children whose caregivers were married displayed lower levels of externalizing problem behaviors and, at a trend level, higher reading skills over time. Provision of structure was significantly related to children’s academic achievement. Children whose caregivers provided more structure had, at a trend level, better quantitative and reading skills over time.

Conclusions Preschoolers’ cognitive and socioemotional functioning are associated with the type of grandmother involvement in the family. In general, children with custodial grandmothers appear to be lagging behind their peers in the development of their academic skills, exhibiting poorer mathematical and reading skills. However, having a custodial grandmother does not appear to be significantly related to children’s socioemotional functioning. In general, children with coresiding grandmothers were found to be struggling in terms of their socioemotional functioning, displaying higher levels of both internalizing and externalizing problem behaviors. However, living in a multigenerational household does not appear to be significantly associated with children’s academic achievement. Children with either caregiving or non-caregiving grandmothers appear to be doing about the same as their peers.

Limitations The findings of this investigation are limited in their generalizability. This sample was comprised of low-income families in low- income urban neighborhoods and the results may not be applicable to families in other contexts. The formation of households with custodial or coresiding grandmothers is often a necessity. The present study does not examine why these situations developed and whether alternative solutions may have been better or worse for the child.

Practical Applications Based on the findings of this study, it may be concluded that young children with custodial grandmothers would likely benefit from programs targeting literacy and reading skills development as well as the development of quantitative skills. Intervention programs targeting socioemotional development would help address problems being displayed by young children in multigenerational households. Policy makers must consider the needs of the children when they encourage or require greater involvement of grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren. If living arrangements with custodial or coresiding grandmothers are a necessity, additional services should be provided to support the caregivers and the children involved.

Acknowledgements We gratefully acknowledge the support of The Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research through a research development grant to the first author. In addition, we appreciate the support to gather the data for Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study from the following government agencies and foundations: National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (RO1 HD36093 "Welfare Reform and the Well-Being of Children"), Office of the Assistant Secretary of Planning and Evaluation, Administration on Developmental Disabilities, Administration for Children and Families, Social Security Administration, and National Institute of Mental Health, The Boston Foundation, The Annie E. Casey Foundation, The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation, The Lloyd A. Fry Foundation, The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health, The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Joyce Foundation, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, The Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, The Searle Fund for Policy Research, and The Woods Fund of Chicago. A special thank you is also extended to the families who participated in Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study.