• Korean Journal of Childcare and Education
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.261-281
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• 2015

The purpose of this study is to investigate the daily life of low-income grandparent-headed families and identify the effects of the Edu-Care program. To this end, the researcher conducted focus group interviews with ten grandparents and ten grandchildren who participated in the adjustment program, which was implemented for about five months. After participating in the program, the grandparents perceived that their skills for educating and raising children were improved and that they experienced psychological stability. Meanwhile, the grandchildren perceived that their learning competency and motivation for learning were enhanced and recognized why learning is necessary for their career. It was also found that the conditions and experiences needed for low-income grandparent-headed families are an integrative support program, a differentiated curriculum, and aid and care provided by human resources.

• Korean Journal of Social Welfare Studies
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.41-68
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• 2009

Grandparent-grandchildren family adolescents(GGFAs) need to be well discussed because they tend to be more influenced by the negative surroundings than ordinary family adolescents. Over the past few years, several studies have been made on the correlation between the risk factor, the protective factor and the school resilience of GGFAs, but these studies have the limit to explain the only correlation between the one factor and the school resilience. So the purpose of this study was to examine not only the direct effect between the risk factor and the protective factor, but also the parametric path and effect that the one factor has influence on the correlation between the another factor and the school resilience of GGFAs. We investigated the 328 GGFAs in Korea, and the analytic method used was the Structural Equation Modeling(SEM). The followings are the results of this paper. It was found that the model adaptability had a considerable validity by inspecting the SEM, which showed not only the direct effect between the risk factor, protective factor and the school resilience of GGFAs, but also the mediation effect by the protective factor. The risk factors - the indifference of teacher, the negative attachment relationship, melancholy, uneasiness etc - had a negative influence on the school resilience of GGFAs. The protective factors - the supporss etteacher, self-esteem etc - had a positive influence on the school resilience of GGFAs. The protective factors were found to reduce the negative influence on the school resilience of GGFAs.

• 한국노년학
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.587-609
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• 2021

The purpose of this study was to investigate parenting experiences among grandmothers raising their grandchildren from grandmothers' perspective, and a variety of their physical health, psychological and social challenges they were facing in everyday life. In addition, this study explored new issues, changes, and difficulties grandparents and their grandchildren were going through during the COVID-19 pandemic. Seven grandmothers raising their grandchildren without their cohabiting parents participated in an in-depth interview, and the qualitative date were obtained using semi-structured questionnaires. Analyses identified 5 main categories: 1) my emotion, worries, and coping with parenting grandchildren, 2) difficulties and obstacles facing in real life of the parenting, 3) conflicts and coping with growing grandchildren who showed new characters, 4) relationships and emotions among grandparents, parents, and grandchildren, and 5) needs and desires toward social services and support. Sixteen themes and 60 sub-themes were also derived. The majority of grandmothers expressed diverse difficulties in their dail y lives including ambivalent emotions regarding grandchild-rearing(rewards and burden), economic hardships, physical health limitations, and a lack of communications with their grandchildren. Further, findings indicated profound generation conflicts which had been even deepened during school close period in COVID-19 pandemic and had been associated with increased hours of using internet and playing computer games. The top priority of the social service needs among interviewed grandmothers was learning support for their grandchildren. Emotional support and social support to cover their lack of family interactions, and financial support were the next of their desired social services. Implications to improve social services for grandparent-headed families are discussed.

• Korean Journal of Child Studies
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• v.38 no.1
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• pp.185-203
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• 2017

Objective: The present study examined the perspectives of grandparents raising their grandchildren in an attempt to better understand grandparents' child-rearing experience while providing kinship foster care to their primary-grade grandchildren. Methods: Data were collected through individual in-depth interviews with eight grandparents who have raised one or two primary-grade (ages 8-10) grandchildren using a qualitative approach. Results: First, the participants viewed the reason for their kinship foster care as a failure for caring for their own children and accepted the present grandparent-care provision as their responsibility. Second, the participants communicated constant struggles with their own health and grandchild-care as well as positive/negative emotions associated with the care provision. Third, most of the participants did not fully understand the developmental needs of their primary-grade grandchildren. Fourth, the participants articulated concerns for their primary-grade grandchildren's learning, peer interactions, school adjustment, and extra-curricular activities. Lastly, the participants all agreed on hoping to raise grandchildren with good personality traits as members of a society and to have them fill the gap from the loss of their parents. Conclusion: Although most participants accepted the current circumstances as their obligation, they still noted difficulties in child-care provision. Given the developmental needs of grandchildren and the resource needs of grandparents, proper and continuous intervention approaches should be developed/provided.

• 한국노년학
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.299-313
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• 2014

Recently, an interest on parenting stress and depression of grandparents raising grandchildren is rising according to the increase of working couple and divorce. Discussing around developmental task of elderly, one of the influencing factors on increase of grandparents' parenting stress and depression is leisure restriction. However, this factor has received far less rigorous analysis. Thus, the purpose of this article is to offer an analysis of the effect of leisure activities on depression in grandparents raising grandchildren. The data was collected from 172 grandparents raising their grandchildren in 2011 national survey results on the elderly life conditions. Their analyses were composed of descriptive statistic and multiple regression analysis. The study generated several findings. First, grandparents participated in activities for exercise and religion at a high rate and their mean score of depression was 7.1 of 15 what suggests middle level of depression. second, multiple regression analysis showed that the factor of exercise, travel experience, leisure activities satisfaction and other special leisure activities were statistically significant predictors of depression. Implication for social welfare services and programs to improve the mental health of grandparents raising their grandchildren to have positive self-awareness and attitude about life in their position and living condition for help prevent depression were discussed.

• The Korean Journal of Community Living Science
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.419-439
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• 2012

Family dissolution and economic difficulties of the grandchild's parents are the most prevailing reason for an increase of grandparent-headed families in rural Korea. However, there is a lack of empirical research looking at the experiences of custodial grandmothers, social support, and their psychological well-being. In this regard, this study examined the effect of social support (formal & informal) on the psychological well-being of custodial grandmothers in rural Korea. For this purpose, quantitative and qualitative research methods were conducted. Quantitative data were gathered, using structured questionnaire, from 311 grandmothers who were raising their grandchildren in rural Korea as primary care-givers. Statistical methods used for data analysis were descriptive statistics and hierarchical regression analysis with SPSS WIN 19.0 programs. Qualitative data were collected by in-depth interviews to 10 custodial grandmothers in rural area. The results of this study are as follows. First, almost half of the parents of the grandchild didn't visit and didn't call anymore. Some relatives -aunt, uncle, etc.- support the grandparent-headed family economically and emotionally. 3/4 of the grandparent-headed families were supported by the government and community. This was not small numbers, but the amount of economic support was low. Second, grandmothers in the study showed quite a high level of depression while their happiness level was relatively low. There were differences in the factors influencing the level of happiness/depression of these rural grandmothers. Overall, the study's results showed the importance of formal & informal support for psychological well-being of the custodial grandmothers in rural Korea. Policy and theoretical implications are discussed.

• International Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.85-97
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• 2007

The two main purposes of this study were to develop the 'Three Generation Family-Madang Program' and to examine its effects on enhancing family functioning and strengthening family relationships. The 'Three Generation Family-Madang Program' consisted of six sessions, each of which included various types of activities and educational materials to evoke interests of the three-generation family members. Subjects of this study were 21 triples, consisting of mothers and their family members, each for the experimental group and the control group, respectively. Mean, Standard Deviation, MANCOVA, and Discriminant Analysis were carried out for the data analyses. Our results showed that the 'Three Generation Family-Madang Program' was effective in enhancing family adaptability and family relationships. Our program focused on the parent generation to have a better understanding and a more positive perspective toward other family members, which would enhance family functioning and family relationships. Our program also received positive feedback from the grandparent and grandchildren generation participants.

• Korea journal of population studies
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.115-142
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• 2006

This study examined the level of social support for grandparent-headed families and its effects on the grandparents' physical and mental health. For this purpose, the survey data was collected from 141 grandparents raising their grandchildren in Daejeon Metropolitan City. The study generated several findings. First, grandparent-headed families tended to rely on formal support system rather than informal one. Second, grandparent's physical health was found to be very poor that 82.3% of the grandparents reportedly needed some assistance in at least one ADL, and their mean score of depression measured by CES-D was 27.4, indicating a moderate level of psychological distress. Third, among the sociodemographic and stressor variables, grandparents' sex, the number of their children and household keeping burden were statistically significant predictors of their ADL restriction. As for depression level of the grandparents, their monthly income, parenting duration, the number of their children, economic difficulties, household keeping burden and social restrictions were found to be statistically significant. Fourth, grandparents who reported of having more social support from their friends, a higher level of satisfaction of the friends' social support and also of being satisfied with social support from their religious associations tended to experience significantly less ADL restrictions. The more kinds of social support received from friends and social welfare agencies and the less satisfied they were with social support from governmental sector, the higher their depression level was. Implications for social welfare services and programs for grandparent-headed families were discussed.

• Child Health Nursing Research
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.212-223
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• 2000

The purposes of this research were to add to the developing knowledge base about the burden and social support of grandmothers involved with caring grandchildren, and to examine whether a significant relationship exists between their burden and social support perceived by the grandmothers. A convenience sample of 102 grandmothers was recruited from five collective apartment areas at a small city in Korea. The criteria of selection of sample were that the grandmothers were raising their grandchildren under the age of 36 months for 3 months or longer at own or gandchildren's home. The instruments used were a 15-item multidemensional burden scale and a 8-item social support scale. Both scales were self report, five point Likert type scales. The higher the score, the higher the degree of burden and social support. Data was collected by two prepared research assistants visiting subjects' home from December 10, 1998 to March 20, 1999. The collected data were analysed using mean, t-test, one-way ANOVA, and Pearson's correlation coefficient computed by SPSS software. The results were as follows. 1. In the age distribution of grandmothers, the over half of subjects(58.8%) were under 60 years old. The majority(69.6%) of subjects were married at time of data collection. 79(77.5%) of the sample reported that their perceived health status was good or over. 2. The burden of the grandmothers was not scored high, and the item means on burden scale were ranged from 2.26 to 4.19 out of 5. 'Short of private time'(4.19) had the highest score, followed by 'fatigue'(3.92), 'short of rest'(3.75), and 'short of contact with friends and neighbors'(3.62). The lowest item was 'family doesn't help me'(2.26), and followed by 'family doesn't understand me'(2.33), 'angry with family' (2.43), and 'angry while caring for grandchild'(2.60). 3. There were significant relationships between the burden and present health status(p<.01), childcaring confidence(p<.01), and motive of caring(p<.01). 4. The score of social support, was ranging from 3.61 to 4.01 out of 5. 5. The relationship between burden and social support was found to be correlated negatively. The relationship was statistically significant(γ= - .2833, p<.001). In conclusion, it was found that the burden was not high and burden of grandmothers caring grandchildren was correlated negatively to social support. Therefore, these results provide a basis for developing a nursing intervention to reduce the burden of grandmothers.

• 한국노년학
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.797-813
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to analyze the trends and to achieve in-depth understanding about the research on families in later life. The journal articles related to the elderly and family studies published between 1980 and 2008 were analyzed for theories, research subjects and methodology. A total of 181 research articles were published focused on the elderly and families during this period of time. The results are as follows; there has been a steady increase in the number of research articles analyzing the elderly and families since 1980. However, there was little effort to integrate empirical findings with theories. With regards to the methodology, the majority of the studies used quantitative methods, although the number of the qualitative studies increased after 1990. The size of samples in most of the quantitative studies was large enough to test inferential statistic techniques. The research subjects such as family relations(parent-adult child, grandparent-grandchildren), family conflict, support system were studied in depth; however, the practical use of these research findings in welfare policies and service programs was not so effective. In future, researchers should be expected to play important roles in the practical fields and the policy implementation process utilizing their research findings.