Marshalling Social Support for Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren Southern

Marshalling Social Support for Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren Southern Gerontological Association Meetings Friday April 7, 2017 - Asheville, NC Symposium Paper Presentation The Impact of the Intervention on grandmothers’ Self-Reported Stress and Satisfaction with Social Support Julian Montoro-Rodriguez, Ph. D. Bert Hayslip Jr. , Ph. D.

What effects did we find across the 4 week empowerment intervention? • In understanding and interpreting these findings, the following influences bear on the strength and value of these effects: – Smallness of the sample (n =16) influencing the statistical power of our analyses – The selective nature of the sample; sampling bias in terms of SES, gender, level of education, ethnicity (see Table 3) – Generalizability of findings? – As a demonstration project, we lacked a control group against which to compare the intervention – Only immediate post program findings are available – Goal setting may be but one avenue toward grandparent empowerment – Other foci vs. improving communication, stress management, goal setting as a means of empowerment – Goal setting vs. goal implementation as program content 2

Major Findings (see Tables 1 and 2) Program Impact over 4 Sessions • Improved self-rated stress (p <. 05) • Lessened positive affect regarding relationship with GC (p<. 05) • Lessened positive beliefs about changing aspects of caregiving for the GC (p <. 05): – GMs did report lessened stress as a function of goal setting (empowerment) and the development of assertiveness training in getting social support – The nature of the goal setting process as well as the nature of the goals themselves disrupted the GM-GC relationship, decreased stability/predictability, introduced new routines/time constraints – Lessened stress as a function of goal-setting comes at the cost of restructuring the GM-GC relationship, to which GC react negatively – This argues for a more comprehensive understanding of empowerment in light of the GP-GC dynamic – Greater emphasis on goal implementation, the setting of more realistic goals, differentiating short term vs. long term goals, goals for self vs. GC, relationship goals 3

Program Impact • Slight increases in social support satisfaction • Findings for goal attainment confidence unchanged, but positive • Goal attainment estimate of success, satisfaction with effort, helpfulness of goal setting in getting social support all evidenced slight declines over 3 sessions – Suggests that goal implementation was not successful and/or estimates of goal setting parameters over 3 sessions need to be examined over a longer time frame – More emphasis in the future on goal implementation, the nature of the goals themselves – Many of the goals set revolve around respite, self-improvement, reducing isolation- these likely take time to implement and are subject to a variety of barriers that need to be ID’d and overcome – Underscores need to manage the demands of caregiving • All estimates of program satisfaction are positive 4

Program Impact Benefits: • • • Physical health and social relationships aspects of caregiver strain improved as did positive affect; anxiety lessened, ability to turn off negative thinking increased Negative interactions with others declined-could reflect benefits of assertiveness training Intrapersonal and interpersonal gains as a function of program participation Costs: • • • Contact with friends and kin declined- could reflect increased demands of caregiving/GC relationship management Satisfaction with caregiving unchanged, as were time dependency and life development aspects of caregiver strain Confidence in getting respite declined-could reflect lack of implementation training and/or greater demands of caregiving Distinction between goal setting and goal implementation is necessary- this might produce more positive short term benefits for GM Emphasis on goals that do not undermine the quality of the GM-GC relationship 5

Marshalling Social Support for Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren Final Thoughts: • Program Effectiveness • Program Impact: Caregiver versus Grandparent Role • Rethinking Goal Setting and Goal Attainment • Future Research: Pilot Study with Control Group 6

TABLE 1 7

TABLE 1 (Continued) 8

TABLE 2 Positive Beliefs about Change 63. 21 58. 77 p<. 05 9

TABLE 2 (Continued) 10