Exploring the relationship between perceived social support, stress and well-being of grandparents raising a grandchild with a congenital disability

Abstract

English: The increase in grandparents who take on the role of raising their grandchild has incited a growth in research, specifically on how this population is able to accomplish such an important responsibility at the later years of their life. However, not much is known about grandparents who are raising grandchild with a congenital disability. Grandparents may take on this role as either a co-parent or as a sole parent out of obligation towards their grandchild and their family. Grandparents from low socio-economic settings with corresponding challenging family and environmental circumstances are a particularly vulnerable group. As a result, these grandparents may experience heightened levels of stress, lower levels of well-being and increased social isolation, which may have a negative influence on their grandchild’s developmental outcomes. This thesis will focus on a study undertaken that aimed to explore the relationships between stress, well-being and the perceived needs for and helpfulness of available social support of grandparents raising their grandchild with a congenital disability. A total of 50 sole-parenting and co-parenting grandparents from various areas in the Western Cape took part in this adapted survey design in the form of structured interviews. An expected inverse relationship was found between caregiving stress and well-being. A further expected positive relationship was found between the grandparents’ perceived needs for types of support and their well-being, and, as hypothesised, an inverse relationship was identified between the grandparents’ perceived need for types of support and their stress. With further analysis, perceived need for types of support positively mediated the stress and well-being. Together with its clinical implications, this study also provides understanding regarding the implications of applying measures devised on foreign populations to the current South African context.

Afrikaans: Die toename in grootouers wat hul kleinkinders grootmaak, het gelei tot ’n groei in navorsing, spesifiek oor die wyse waarop hierdie populasie in staat is om so ’n belangrike en verantwoordelike rol op hul ouderdom te vervul. Daar is egter nie veel bekend oor grootouers wat kleinkinders met ’n aangebore gestremdheid grootmaak nie. Grootouers vervul hierdie rol óf as ’n mede-ouer, óf as ’n alleenouer, uit verpligting teenoor hul kleinkind en hul familie. Grootouers uit lae sosio-ekonomiese agtergronde, met ooreenstemmende uitdagings ten opsigte van familie- en omgewingsomstandighede, is veral ’n weerlose groep. Die resultaat hiervan is dat sodanige grootouers verhoogde stresvlakke, laer welstandsvlakke en verhoogde sosiale isolasie mag ervaar, wat kan lei tot ’n negatiewe uitwerking op hul kleinkinders se ontwikkelingsuitkomste. Hierdie studie verken die verhoudings tussen stres, welstand en die waargenome behoeftes na beskikbare maatskaplike ondersteuning (en of hierdie ondersteuning van waarde is) vir die grootouers wat hul kleinkind met ’n aangebore gestremdheid grootmaak. ’n Totaal van 50 grootouers (alleen- of mede-ouers) vanuit verskeie gebiede in die Wes-Kaap het deelgeneem aan hierdie aangepaste meningsopname-ontwerp in die vorm van gestruktureerde onderhoude. ’n Verwagte inverse verhouding tussen versorgerstres en welstand is bevind. ’n Verdere verwagte positiewe verhouding is bevind tussen die grootouers se waargenome behoeftes na tipes ondersteuning en hul welstand en, soos veronderstel, is ’n inverse verhouding geïdentifiseer tussen die grootouer se waargenome behoeftes na tipes ondersteuning en hul stres. Met verdere analise, het waargenome behoeftes na tipes ondersteuning, die verhouding tussen stres en welstand, positief met bemiddeling. Tesame met die kliniese implikasies, verskaf hierdie studie ook begrip rakende die implikasies van die toepassing van maatreëls wat ontwerp is vir populasies wat nie met die huidige Suid-Afrikaanse konteks ooreenstem nie.