Economically Disadvantaged Rural Multigenerational Families Raising Infants

Economically Disadvantaged Rural Multigenerational Families Raising Infants Public Deposited

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Creator

Barnett, Melissa A.
- Affiliation: College of Arts and Sciences, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience

Abstract

This study explores psychological distress, parenting behaviors and infant temperamental/behavioral risk among rural economically disadvantaged families in which mothers and grandmothers are raising an infant together. Traditional components of family stress frameworks that model the influence of economic disadvantage on child outcomes via parenting were expanded to include factors that may be particularly relevant to these multigenerational families of varying maternal age. This study also simultaneously considers the relationship between observed mother and grandmother parenting and early child risk. The findings suggest that despite the unique risks to psychological well-being faced by grandmothers, the grandmothers display higher levels of sensitive parenting. This sensitive parenting is related to infant temperamental/behavioral risk in the presence of high levels of maternal negative parenting, but only for white families. Mothers and grandmothers display similar levels of negative intrusive parenting, but different factors are linked to the observed parenting of each generation. These findings contribute to understanding the adaptive benefits and risks of three-generation households.

Date of publication