Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Nov;30(6):2096-2127.
doi: 10.1111/hsc.13876. Epub 2022 Jun 17.

Mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes of grandchildren raised by custodial grandparents: A mixed methods systematic review

Yanfeng Xu  1 , Yao Wang  2 , Lauren P McCarthy  3 , Theresa Harrison  4 , Hanna Doherty  1
Affiliations

Mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes of grandchildren raised by custodial grandparents: A mixed methods systematic review

Yanfeng Xu et al. Health Soc Care Community. 2022 Nov.

Abstract

Grandparents caring for grandchildren has increased globally in the past two decades, but we have a limited understanding of its effects on custodial grandchildren's mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes. This mixed methods systematic review aims to synthesise mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes of custodial grandchildren within custodial grandparent-headed families and with comparison to other types of household structure and further examine factors associated with these outcomes. A systematic review following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines was conducted. We searched ERIC, Family Studies Abstracts, PsycINFO, PubMed, Scopus, Social Work Abstract and SocINDEX in March 2021 and screened 14,515 articles, which resulted in the inclusion of 42 studies, including 33 quantitative, seven qualitative and two mixed methods studies. The quality of included studies was assessed. This review covered 10 countries, yet most studies revealed that grandchildren raised by grandparents had adverse mental/behavioural health and educational outcomes compared to their peers raised by biological parents. This review further identified multi-level factors contributing to custodial grandchildren's adverse outcomes. Methodological limitations and implications for future practice and research were discussed.

Keywords: behavioural health; custodial grandchildren; education; grandparents raising grandchildren; mental health; systematic review.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have no conflict of interest to declare.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
PRISMA chart.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Achenbach, T. M. , & Edelbrock, C. (1991). Child behavior checklist (Vol. 7). University of Vermont Department of Psychiatry.
    1. Ani, A. , Rachmawati, P. , Hidayati, L. , Praba, D. , & Efendi, F. (2020). The differences in the stimulation and personal social development of school‐aged children between children who raised by their grandparents and parents respectively. Journal of Global Pharma Technology., 12(1), 142–150.
    1. Array . (n.d.). Defining behavioral health. Retrieved from https://arraybc.com/defining‐behavioral‐health
    1. Baker, L. A. , Silverstein, M. , & Putney, N. M. (2008). Grandparents raising grandchildren in the United States: Changing family forms, stagnant social policies. Journal of Societal & Social Policy, 7, 53–69. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Bernedo, I. M. , Fuentes, M. J. , & Fernández, M. (2008). Behavioral problems in adolescents raised by their grandparents. The Spanish Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 453–463. 10.1017/s1138741600004467 - DOI - PubMed

Publication types