1. Background

GRANDPARENTS:
Supporting Parents and Grandchildren
James Kirby & Matthew Sanders
The Parenting and Family Support Centre
School of Psychology, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia
1. Background
4. What is Triple P?
Grandparenting context
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Grandparents are the biggest single providers of both formal and informal child care between birth and 12
years of age in Australia1
In Australia, there are approximately 661, 200 children receiving informal child care from their grandparents,
which equates to 20% of all Australian children1
Grandparents are spending on average 12 hours of care a week in child care arrangements1
Very little is currently known on how grandparents cope with this newly found role, what challenges they are
presented with, and what is the most effective way to intervene if intervention is required2
The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program is a multi-level preventatively oriented parenting program aimed at
preventing and reducing childhood emotional and behavioural problems by promoting parental skill,
knowledge and confidence5. It is based on the following five core principles, has a strong evidence-base, and
has been modified to different populations such as children with autism, teenagers, and indigenous families6.
1. Safe
engaging
environment
This study:
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The purpose of this study was to conduct a series of focus groups to discover the critical components
necessary to include in a program for grandparents who care for their grandchildren. The aim of the focus
groups was to ascertain what grandparents view as the most important areas in which they need assistance in
their role as caregivers for their grandchildren.
5. Taking
care of
yourself as a
parent
2. Method
2. Positive
learning
environment
Core
Principles
Sample
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14 grandparents (11 females, 3 males), aged 51-76 (M=60.14) were recruited through advertisements in local
newspapers, magazines, radio, and letters that were sent to grandparent organisations
Focus groups were transcribed verbatim and were analysed through an inductive thematic analysis approach3
4. Realistic
Expectations
This study:
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Family Background Questionnaire4
The focus groups were asked:
1. What do you enjoy most about caring for your grandchildren?
2. What do you find challenging or difficult about caring for your grandchildren?
3. Does caring for your grandchild affect your relationship with the parents?
4. What would you like to see in a program that aims at assisting grandparents in their role?
Inter-rater reliability for key themes with independent coder к = .88 (p<.001), 95% CI [.76, 1.0]
How to be a parent to
a parent
Taking care of
yourself as a
grandparent
Being a grandparent
is rewarding
Grandparenting
experience
Grandparents want
parenting
information and
support
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The thematic analysis revealed six key themes:
How to manage
grandchild
misbehaviour
5. Conclusions
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3. Results
• Difficulty knowing what to do with different child behaviour
problems
• “That was one of the hardest things, was me taking my little granddaughter
shopping” (56 year-old grandmother)
• Wanting to support parents, but not wanting to interfere either
• “Yeah you got be careful of telling them what to do as parents, my daughterin-law says that, and even my daughter does. But I can remember saying the
same things to my Mum” (63 year-old grandmother)
• The need to break away from caregiving role without guilt
• “I must admit I feel, if we went away for 4 or 5 weeks overseas or something
like that, I’d have a guilt complex” (69 year-old grandfather)
• Grandparenting is rewarding as you see both parent and
grandchild growth and development
• “But what I enjoy the most is that they run to me and give me the biggest
hug! Huggles you know because we call them huggles , because it’s just that
emotion you can’t describe” (67 year-old grandmother)
• Having the experience of being a parent before
• “You’ve had the experience with your own kids. And you’ve always got that
to look back on “ (63 year-old grandmother)
• Wanting additional information and support to cope with role
• “I would like it to be more publicised if there was information out there and
where you could go for it….I mean where do you go, where do you go for the
information? “(57 year –old grandmother)
Contact: James Kirby, [email protected]
3. Assertive
discipline
Grandparents do want a program to help assist them in their role
The current evidence-based Triple P-Positive Parenting Program needs to be adapted to suit a population of
grandparents
A consumer perspective will be adopted whereby the Triple P program will be modified based on the key
themes identified by the focus groups
The program will include new modules such as, ‘How to be a Parent to a Parent’, which will involve strategies
aimed at communication, problem solving, and how to support parents without interfering
6. References
1. Australian Bureau of Statistics [ABS]. (2006, Re-issue). Child care, Australia,
June 2005 (Catalogue No. 4402). Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics.
2. Roberto, K.A., Qualls, S.H. (2003). Intervention strategies for grandparents
raising grandchildren: Lessons learned from the caregiving literature. In B.
Hayslip & J.H. Patrick (Eds.), Working with custodial grandparents (pp. 1327). New York: Springer Publishing Company.
3. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology.
Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77-101.
4. Zubrick, S. R., Ward, K. A., Silburn, S. R., Lawrence, D., Williams, A. A., Blair,
E., Robertson, D., & Sanders, M. R. (2005). Prevention of child behavior
problems through universal implementation of a group behavioral family
intervention. Prevention Science, 6, 287–304.
5. Sanders, M.R. (2008). The Triple P-Positive Parenting Program as a public
health approach to strengthening parenting. Journal of Family Psychology,
22(4), 506-517.
6. Sanders, M.R., Markie-Dadds, C., & Turner, K.M.T. (2003). Theoretical, scientific
and clinical foundations of the Triple P-Positive Parenting Program: A
population approach to the promotion of parenting competence. Parenting
Research and Practice Monograph, 1, 1-21.
“We are 76 now and it is hard
work. But we wouldn’t miss it for
the world. “ (76 year-old
grandmother).