TY - JOUR
T1 - Positive and negative impacts of caring among adolescents caring for grandparents. Results from an online survey in six european countries and implications for future research, policy and practice
AU - Santini, Sara
AU - Socci, Marco
AU - D’amen, Barbara
AU - Di Rosa, Mirko
AU - Casu, Giulia
AU - Hlebec, Valentina
AU - Lewis, Feylyn
AU - Leu, Agnes
AU - Hoefman, Renske
AU - Brolin, Rosita
AU - Magnusson, Lennart
AU - Hanson, Elizabeth
N1 - Funding Information:
This paper endeavors to contribute to the knowledge on AYCs of GrPs by reporting the results of a survey carried out within the project “Psychosocial support for promoting mental health and well-being among adolescent young caregivers in Europe” (ME-WE), funded by the European Union (H2020; 2018-2021). One of the overall project objectives was to increase and systematize the knowledge concerning AYCs’ situation across Europe. The project activities included a cross-national survey on AYCs, carried out in 2018, in six European countries (Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom). The ME-WE survey involved a large sample of 15– 17 AYCs, thus providing a unique cross-European comparison of AYCs of GrPs, and allowing the comparability of results of large samples, as recommended by researchers in the field [7,48]. Starting from this baseline, this study specifically aimed at answering the following research questions: (1) Is there any difference in positive and negative caregiving outcomes between AYCs of GrPs and AYCs of other care recipients (OCRs)? (2) Which are the exposure factors to positive and negative caregiving outcomes among AYCs of GrPs, in comparison to AYCs of OCRs?
Funding Information:
Funding: The study formed part of a major pan-European project that received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 754702. This study was also partially supported by Ricerca Corrente funding from the Italian Ministry of Health to IRCCS INRCA.
Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank the survey participants and especially AYCs, head teachers, school social workers, school psychologists, and teachers for authorizing the ME-WE project researchers’ access to schools, family carers’ organisations and patient organisations that helped them to recruit participants, and the European Commission’s H2020 Research and Innovation Action for funding this study.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Copyright:
Copyright 2020 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.
PY - 2020/9/2
Y1 - 2020/9/2
N2 - Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15–17 years old. AYCs of grandparents (GrPs) were compared to AYCs of other care recipients (OCRs), in order to identify any difference in positive and negative caregiving outcomes and exposure factors between the two groups. Linear or logistic regression models were built, and multivariate analyses were repeated, including a fixed effect on the country variable. AYCs of GrPs experienced more positive caregiving outcomes than AYCs of OCRs across all six countries. Being female or non-binary, and having a migration background, were associated with more negative outcomes, regardless of the relationship with the care recipient. Further research on intergenerational caregiving outcomes is recommended for shaping measures and policies, which preserve the intergenerational emotional bonds, whilst protecting AYCs from inappropriate responsibilities, undermining their mental health and well-being.
AB - Although up to 8% of European youngsters carry out high-intensity care for a family member, adolescent young carers (AYCs), especially those caring for their grandparents (GrPs), remain an under-researched group. This study aimed at addressing the current knowledge gap by carrying out an online survey in Italy, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The analysis included a final sample of 817 AYCs aged 15–17 years old. AYCs of grandparents (GrPs) were compared to AYCs of other care recipients (OCRs), in order to identify any difference in positive and negative caregiving outcomes and exposure factors between the two groups. Linear or logistic regression models were built, and multivariate analyses were repeated, including a fixed effect on the country variable. AYCs of GrPs experienced more positive caregiving outcomes than AYCs of OCRs across all six countries. Being female or non-binary, and having a migration background, were associated with more negative outcomes, regardless of the relationship with the care recipient. Further research on intergenerational caregiving outcomes is recommended for shaping measures and policies, which preserve the intergenerational emotional bonds, whilst protecting AYCs from inappropriate responsibilities, undermining their mental health and well-being.
KW - Adolescent young caregivers
KW - Grandparents
KW - Intergenerational relationships
KW - Negative caregiving outcomes
KW - Older people
KW - Online survey
KW - Positive caregiving outcomes
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85090626771&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3390/ijerph17186593
DO - 10.3390/ijerph17186593
M3 - Article
C2 - 32927827
AN - SCOPUS:85090626771
VL - 17
SP - 1
EP - 16
JO - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
JF - International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
SN - 1661-7827
IS - 18
M1 - 6593
ER -