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KMID : 0379220080280010177
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Journal of Korea Gerontological Society
2008 Volume.28 No. 1 p.177 ~ p.196
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Intergenerational Triads of Grandparent-headed Families and Psychological Well-Being of Custodial Grandmothers in Rural Korea
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Lee Jeong-Wha
Han Gyoung-Hae
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Abstract
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An increasingly prevalent family constellation in recent Korea is a home headed by a grandparent who is raising grandchildren. The number of custodial grandparents is much larger in rural area than urban area due to the fact that adult children in urban area send their children to grandparents in rural area when they cannot raise their children with various reasons. Family dissolution and economic difficulties of grandchild’s parents are the most prevailing reason for this increase of grandparent-headed families in rural Korea. In this study, we tried to identify the factors influencing psychological wellbeing of custodial grandmothers and more specifically to explore the relationships between three core family members, that is, relationship among grandmother, parent and grandchild and psychological well-being of custodial grandmother. The data were gathered from 311 grandmothers raising their grandchildren in rural area as a primary care-giver, using structured questionnaire. The statistical methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics, ANOVA, correlation, and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS WIN 12.0 programs. The most common configuration of intergenerational relationship in this family is all-three intergenerational members emotionally close or connected with each other. However, ’single bonded’ and ’not-bonded’ pattern were also frequently observed. There are differences in the factors influencing the level of happiness/depression of the grandmothers. Health status of the grandmothers, the number of grandchildren, education level, economic status, relationship between grandmother and father of the grandchild are significant variables predicting the perceived depression. Economic status, relationship between grandmother and father of the grandchild and relationship between grandmother and grandchild are significant variables predicting the perceived happiness of custodial grandmothers. It was shown that economic hardship is especially problematic to custodial grandparents’s well-being. These families need greater help but only few mentioned professional intervention. The results suggest that the triad model helps to identify families in trouble in which low psychological well-being might compromise caregiving.
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KEYWORD
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Psychological well-being, Custodial Grandmothers, Intergenerational relationships, Rural area
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