Material hardship and parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers during the COVID-19 pandemic: The mediating role of grandparents’ mental health

Xu, Yanfeng; Wu, Qi; Levkoff, Sue E.; Jedwab, Merav

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of many families, including grandparent kinship families, to deal with a health/economic crisis. The fear of COVID-19 plus stay-at-home orders have increased individuals’ psychological distress. Moreover, school closures and homeschooling further increased parenting stress among caregivers. OBJECTIVES: This study examined the relationship between material hardship and parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers, and assessed grandparents’ mental health as a potential mediator to this relationship during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Grandparent kinship providers (N = 362) that took primary care of their grandchildren participated in a cross-sectional survey via Qualtrics Panels in June 2020 in the United States. METHODS: Descriptive and bivariate analyses, binary logistic regression, and mediation analyses were conducted using STATA 15.0. RESULTS: Suffering material hardship was significantly associated with higher odds of experiencing parenting stress among grandparent kinship providers, and grandparents’ mental health partially mediated this association. CONCLUSIONS: Addressing material and mental health needs among grandparent kinship providers is critical to decreasing their parenting stress.