How well do grandparents cope with parenting?
For some children grandparents serve as parents. A new study looks at how grandparents cope with parenting when compared to parents.
For many children, family means parents (as the primary guardians) and siblings. However, for 2% of children in the United States, the primary family guardians mean grandparents. There is little known about how grandparents as caregivers compares to parents as caregivers. A recent investigation in Pediatrics provides some new information on how both compare in regards to caring for a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), caregiver aggravation and coping, child temperament, and adverse childhood experiences (ACEs).1
The investigators used a combined data set from the 2016, 2017, and 2018 National Survey of Children’s Health. The data included children aged 3 to 17 years. They looked at composite and single-item outcome measures.
A total of 80,646 households, with 78,239 parent-headed and 2407 grandparent-headed were studied. In this sample, the children in grandparent-based households experienced more ACEs than the children in parent-headed houses (β = 1.22, 95% CI: 1.07 to 1.38). Children who were in preschool and school and lived in grandparent-headed households were found to be more likely to have ADHD than their peers in parent-headed homes (adjusted odds ratio = 4.29, 95% CI: 2.22 to 8.28; adjusted odds ratio = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.34 to 2.20). School-aged children in grandparent-headed homes had poorer temperament (βadj = .25, 95% CI: −0.63 to 1.14) and the caregivers in those homes showed greater aggravation (βadj = .29, 95% CI: 0.08 to 0.49). These differences were not noted after children who had ADHD were excluded from the sample. Differences were not noted between the 2 types of households for interactions with children, caregiver coping, and emotional support.
The researchers concluded that grandparents who are tasked with raising their grandchildren are coping with the stress of parenting as well as actual parents. The fact that they are often caring for children who have poorer temperaments than their peers as well as greater development problems than children in parent-headed homes speaks to the coping skills of grandparents who serve as parents. It also speaks to an area of stress that clinicians should be sensitive.
Reference
1. Rapoport E, Muthiah N, Keim SA, Adesman A. Family well-being in grandparent- versus parent-headed households. Pediatrics. August 3, 2020. Epub ahead of print. doi:10.1542/peds.2020-0115
Fluoxetine helps refractory nocturnal enuresis but not for long
March 29th 2023A 12-week study in Egypt of the efficacy of fluoxetine (a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) in children with treatment-refractory nocturnal enuresis (NE) found that though the treatment achieved a good initial response, it was not sustainable.
Meet the Board: Vivian P. Hernandez-Trujillo, MD, FAAP, FAAAAI, FACAAI
May 20th 2022Contemporary Pediatrics sat down with one of our newest editorial advisory board members: Vivian P. Hernandez-Trujillo, MD, FAAP, FAAAAI, FACAAI to discuss what led to her career in medicine and what she thinks the future holds for pediatrics.
Are some patients predisposed to avascular necrosis after hip surgery?
March 14th 2023Although avascular necrosis (AVN) is believed to be an iatrogenic complication following treatment of developmental dysplasia of the hip, an investigation in China found 2 characteristics associated with the condition: the likelihood of AVN increases with both the grade of dislocation and of underdevelopment of the ossific nucleus.
Meet the board: Jessica L. Peck, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, CNE, CNL, FAANP, FAAN
April 22nd 2022In the latest episode of our podcast series, Jessica L. Peck, DNP, APRN, CPNP-PC, CNE, CNL, FAANP, FAAN shares why she got into medicine, the myths of pediatric, and what the future may hold for the specialty.
