Grandparent involvement in raising grandchildren has become increasingly prevalent and represents the family's strength for managing crises and transitions. This study examined acculturation, socioeconomic resources, and family factors related to well-being among 357 Latina caregiving grandmothers. Positive affect was related to greater language acculturation and factors suggesting participation in mainstream society—income and health. In contrast, higher life satisfaction and lower negative affect were more evident among the less acculturated. These relationships disappeared with controls, explained by greater social resources among less acculturated grandmothers: more were married and had the parent at home; fewer assumed care because of the parent's substance-related problems. The parent's presence in the household was related to a higher level of grandmother's well-being until more sensitive family factors were considered. Furthermore, raising grandchildren with behavior problems was related to the grandmother's negative affect. Results suggest that professions should target economic needs of new immigrants, as well as assisting with troubled grandchildren and dysfunctional parents.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
ArandaM. P., & MirandaM. R. (1997). Hispanic aging, social support, and mental health: Does acculturation make a difference? In MarkidesK. S. & MirandaM. R. (Eds.), Minorities, aging, and health (pp. 271–294). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
2.
ZinnBaca M., & WellsB. (2000). Diversity within Latino families: New lessons for family social science. In DemoD. H.AllenK. R., & FineM. A., (Eds.), Handbook of family diversity (pp. 252–273). New York: Oxford University Press.
3.
BerkM. L., & SchurC. L. (2001). The effect of fear on access to care among undocumented Latino immigrants. Journal of Immigrant Health, 3(3), 151–156.
4.
BurnetteD. (2000). Latino grandparents rearing grandchildren with special needs: Effects of depressive symptomatology. In McCallionP. & JanickiM. (Eds.), Grandparents as carers of children with disabilities: Facing the challenges (pp. 1–16). New York: Haworth Press.
5.
CaetanoR., & ClarkC. L. (2003). Acculturation, alcohol consumption, smoking, and drug use among Hispanics. In ChunK. M.OrganistaP. B., & MarínG. (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 223–239). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
6.
CuéllarI. (2000). Acculturation and mental health: Ecological transactional relations of adjustment. In CuellarI. & PaniaguaF. A. (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural mental health (pp. 45–62). San Diego: Academic Press.
7.
DienerE.EmmonsR. A.LarsenR. J., & GriffinS. (1985). The Satisfaction With Life Scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
8.
FieldsJ. (2003). Children's living arrangements and characteristics: March 2002 (Current Population Reports P20–547). Washington, DC: Bureau of the Census. Retrieved July 18, 2003 from http://www.census.gov/prod/2003pubs/p20-547.pdf.
9.
GonzálezH. M.HaanM. N., & HintonL. (2001). Acculturation and the prevalence of depression in older Mexican Americans: Baseline results of the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 49, 948–953.
10.
GoodmanC., & SilversteinM. (2002). Grandmothers raising grandchildren: Family structure and well-being in culturally diverse families. The Gerontologist, 42, 676–689.
11.
GronvoldR. L. (1988). Measuring affectual solidarity. In MangenD. J.BengtsonV.L., & LandryP. H.Jr. (Eds.), Measurement of intergenerational relations (pp. 74–97). Newbury Park: Sage.
JoinerT. E.SandínB.ChorotP.LostaoL., & MarquinaG. (1997). Development and factor analytic validation of the SPANAS among women in Spain: (More) cross-cultural convergence in the structure of mood. Journal of Personality Assessment, 68, 600–615.
14.
MarínG.SabogalF.MarínB. V.Otero-SabogalR., & Pérez-StableE. J. (1987). Development of a short acculturation scale for Latinos. Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 9, 183–205.
15.
MirandaA. O.EstradaD., & Firpo-JimenezM. (2000). Differences in family cohesion, adaptability, and environment among Latino families in dissimilar stages of acculturation. The Family Journal: Counseling and Therapy for Couples and Families, 8, 341–350.
16.
OrganistaP. B.OrganistaK. C., & KurasakiK. (2003). The relationship between acculturation and ethnic minority mental health. In ChunK. M.OrganistaP. B., & MarínG. (Eds.), Acculturation: Advances in theory, measurement, and applied research (pp. 139–161). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
17.
RoglerL. H.CortésD. E., & MalgadyR. G. (1991). Acculturation and mental health status among Hispanics: Convergence and new directions for research. American Psychologist, 46, 585–597.
18.
SilversteinM., & ChenX. (1999). The impact of acculturation in Mexican-American families on the quality of adult grandchild-grandparent relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 61, 188–198.
19.
StiffmanA. R.OrmeJ. G.EvansD. A.FeldmanR. A., & KeeneyP. A. (1984). A brief measure of children's behavior problems: The Behavior Rating Index for Children. Measurement and Evaluation in Counseling and Development, 17(2), 83–90.
20.
ToledoJ. R.HayslipB.Jr.EmickM. A.ToledoC., & HendersonC. E. (2000). Cross-cultural differences in custodial grandparenting. In HayslipB.Jr. & Goldberg-GlenR. (Eds.), Grandparents raising grandchildren: Theoretical, empirical, and clinical perspectives (pp. 107–124). New York: Springer.
21.
VegaW. A.KolodyB.Aguilar-GaxiolaS.AldereteE.CatalanoR., & Caraveo-AnduagaJ. (1998). Lifetime prevalence of DSM-III-R psychiatric disorders among urban and rural Mexican Americans in California. Archives of General Psychiatry, 55, 771–782.
22.
WareJ. E.Jr. (1993). SF-36 health survey: Manual and interpretation guide. Boston, MA: The Health Institute, New England Medical Center.
23.
WatsonD.ClarkL. A., & TellegenA. (1988). Development and validation of brief measures of positive and negative affect: The PANAS Scales. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 54, 1063–1070.
