How Caregiving Affects Development: Psychological Implications for Child, Adolescent, and Adult Caregivers

220 Pages·2009·11.26 MB·English

by  Kim Shifren

How Caregiving
Affects Development
PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPLICATIONS/or CHILD,
ADOLESCENT, anc? ADULT CAREGIVERS
EDITED BY
Kim Shifren
A M E R I C AN P S Y C H O L O G I C AL A S S O C I A T I ON
W A S H I N G T O N, DC
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Copyright © 2009 by the American Psychological Association. All rights reserved. Except
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
How caregiving affects development: psychological implications for child, adolescent, and
adult caregivers / edited by Kim Shifren. — 1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4338-0393-2
ISBN-10:1-4338-0393-3
1. Developmental psychology. 2. Caregivers. I. Shifren, Kim.
BF713.H69 2009
155.9'24—dc22
2008010791
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A CIP record is available from the British Library.
Printed in the United States of America
First Edition
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Contents
Contributors vii
Introduction: A Life Span Perspective on Caregivers 3
Kim Shifren
1 Children as Caregivers to Their 111 Parents With AIDS 37
Laurie }. Bauman, Ellen Johnson Silver,
Rebecca Berman, and Ivy Gamble
2 Adolescent Caregivers 65
Connie Siskowski
3 Emerging and Young Adulthood and Caregiving 93
Mary Dellmann-Jenkins and Maureen Blankemeyer
4 "I Owe It To Them": Understanding Felt Obligation
Toward Parents in Adulthood 119
Catherine H. Stein
5 Women at Midlife: Stress and Rewards of Balancing
Parent Care With Employment and Other Family Roles 147
Mary Ann Parris Stephens, Melissa M. Franks,
Lynn M. Martire, Tina R. Norton, andAudieA. Atienza
6 The Importance of Context and the Gain-Loss Dynamic
for Understanding Grandparent Caregivers 169
Julie Hicks Patrick and Eric A. Goedereis
CONTENTS
Afterword 191
Kim Shifren
Author Index 201
Subject Index 211
About the Editor 223
Contributors
Audie A. Atienza, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD
Laurie J. Bauman, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Rebecca Berman, CJE Senior Life, Chicago, IL
Maureen Blankemeyer, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Mary Dellmann-Jenkins, Kent State University, Kent, OH
Melissa M. Franks, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN
Ivy Gamble, New York, NY
Eric A. Goedereis, West Virginia University, Morgantown
Lynn M. Martire, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine,
Pittsburgh, PA
Tina R. Norton, Clarkson University, Potsdam, NY
Julie Hicks Patrick, West Virginia University, Morgantown
Kim Shifren, Towson University, Towson, MD
EUen Johnson Silver, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
Connie Siskowski, Volunteers for the Homebound
and Family Caregivers, Inc., Boca Raton, FL
Catherine H. Stein, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH
Mary Ann Parris Stephens, Kent State University, Kent, OH
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How Caregiving
Affects Development
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Introduction: A Life Span
Perspective on Caregivers
Kim Shifren
Caregiving is a national issue that continues to increase in impor
tance over time. People are living longer than ever before, and dis
eases that once meant a shorter life span now have available treatments.
Instead of shorter life spans, individuals may be living with chronic ill
nesses and disabilities that require ongoing care (Verbrugge, 1989).
Many adult caregivers provide informal unpaid care to adults with
chronic illnesses and disabilities. The mental and physical health of care
givers, their social support system, coping strategies, and levels of stress
and burden remain a major focus of research, as evidenced by a number
of recent literature reviews and meta-analyses (e.g., Haley, 2003;
Pinquart & Sorensen, 2003, 2005; Vitaliano, Zhang, & Scanlan, 2003).
The positive aspects of caregiving experiences are receiving increased
attention as well (Beach, 1997; Boerner, Schulz, & Horowitz, 2004;
Hooker, Monahan, Bowman, Frazier, & Shifren, 1998; Roff et al. 2004).
Some caregivers derive positive meaning from the caregiving role
(Beach, 1997), whereas others experience both positive and negative
affect (Robertson, Zarit, Duncan, Rovine, & Femia, 2007). Some care
givers even show stability and increases in their level of optimism over
time (Shifren 8c Hooker, 1995).
Most caregiving research in the United States has been focused on
adult caregivers, especially middle-aged (40s to early 60s) and older adult
(65 and over) caregivers (Hooker et al., 1998; Vitaliano et al, 2003). This
is due in part to the large number of adult caregivers in this country.
KIM SHIFREN
Approximately 44.4 million adults (people ages 18 and older) provide
unpaid care to another adult in the United States (National Alliance
for Caregiving & the American Association of Retired Persons, 2004).
However, recent literature shows that caregiving occurs across the life
span from childhood through older adulthood (Beach, 1997; Dellmann-
Jenkins & Brittain, 2003; Gates & Lackey, 1998; Hooker, Manoogian-
O'Dell, Monahan, Frazier, 8c Shifren, 2000; Lackey 8c Gates, 2001; Levine
et al., 2005; Nolen-Hoeksema 8c Ahrens, 2002; Shifren 8c Kachorek,
2003). In fact, between 1.3 million and 1.4 million individuals between
ages 8 and 18 years could be considered caregivers, according to the first
national U.S. survey on the prevalence of this demographic (Hunt,
Levine, 8c Naiditch, 2005).
Because caregiving is not solely an adult activity, it is useful to study
caregiving experiences from a life span development perspective that
includes both the youngest caregivers (people in early childhood) and older
adult caregivers. The life span development perspective, that is, the view
that development is a lifelong process from conception to death, takes into
account the overall development of caregivers' behaviors as a dynamic
process involving both gains and losses throughout the life span (Bakes,
Staudinger, 8c Lindenberger, 1999). Becoming a caregiver at any point in
the life span will affect the caregiver's current and future development.
A life span development perspective is the overarching theme of this
book. Chapter authors discuss their research findings on caregivers within
a life span development framework. Each chapter includes information on
the tasks that are associated with normal development and the ongoing
interaction between the caregiving role and these developmental tasks for
specific caregiver samples. Whenever research has included a comparison
group of noncaregivers, a discussion is provided comparing caregiver with
noncaregiver development.
The first part of this chapter provides background on the relevant
principles of life span development. The second part discusses the over
arching theme of the book, caregiving from a Hfe span perspective. Specific
developmental principles for each age group are briefly discussed within
the life span development framework, and the possible effects of caregiv
ing at each developmental period are examined. For each developmental
INTRODUCTION
period there is a brief description of the chapter on caregivers for that part
of the life span.
KEY PRINCIPLES OF LIFE SPAN DEVELOPMENT
Much of the caregiving literature could be enhanced with the use of the
life span development approach. The key principles of this perspective
include the ideas that (a) development is lifelong, (b) development is
dependent on history and context, (c) development is multidimensional
and multidirectional, and (d) development is pliable (Baltes, 1987; Baltes,
Lindenberger, 8c Staudinger, 1998).
Development Is Lifelong
Development occurs throughout the life span, from conception to death,
and earlier periods affect current and future development. Each period of
development is conceptualized as being equally important (Baltes et al.,
1998). Caregiving at any point in the life span will affect the development
of the caregiver. For example, caregiving in middle childhood can affect
school performance and attendance, which may in turn affect future edu
cation (Dearden 8c Becker, 1999). Most researchers are aware of this, even
if they do not address this issue in their own work.
Development Is Dependent on History and Context
Human beings develop at specific times and places and both influence and
are affected by historical periods in which they live (e.g., the period
following the September 11th attacks on the United States, the Great
Depression).' With caregiving, as with other human activities, it is impor
tant to consider how caregiving experiences differ because of the time in
history in which they take place. One example is the fact that at different
historical periods there has been more or less financial support and for
mal support outside the home for informal caregivers. In other words.
' Elder (1974) used a similar line of reasoning in his work on what he termed "life course trajectory." He dis
cussed the ways in which different points of a person's life are connected (Elder, George, & Shanahan, 1996).
KIM SHIFREN
some caregivers may have had no financial help from government, state,
or local resources. Thus, the experiences of being a caregiver from a par
ticular cohort, not just of a particular age group, can be quite different.
People develop within specific contexts and influence and are affected
by these contexts. For example, caregivers who live and care for others in
impoverished environments will have caregiving experiences much differ
ent from those with more available resources. "An impoverished environ
ment" could refer to financial difficulties but could also describe a
situation in which a family has lost most relatives and is socially isolated.
That is, individuals may provide caregiving in a context that is impover
ished both financially and socially.
Bronfenbrenner (1986) argued that children's development is
strongly influenced by multiple contexts, including the family, school,
peer group, and neighborhood and community. How might dynamic
change in the context of the family affect individuals over time? For care
givers, there may be an accelerated life course, much like that suggested
for inner-city minority youth (Burton, Obeidallah, 8c Allison, 1996). Indi
viduals may need to begin emotional autonomy, making independent
decisions (Arnett, 2000; Papalia, Olds, 8c Feldman, 2007) about finances
and health care at a much younger age than is typical for these kinds of
decisions.
Development Is Multidimensional
and Multidirectional
Human development involves both growth and decline along multiple
dimensions, including physical, cognitive, and psychosocial develop
ment, and occurs throughout the life span. For example, older adults may
learn to minimize loss in some cognitive functioning (e.g., source mem
ory) by using expertise in specific domains (Jastrzembski, Charness, 8c
Vasyukova, 2006). Also, we influence other people and our environment,
and other people and the environment can affect us too. Unfortunately,
very young caregivers may miss out on growth opportunities in some
of these dimensions, because they may have limited time available to