Young Adult Children and Grandchildren in Primary Caregiver Roles to Older Relatives and Their Service Needs

Exponsion of the family to four generations has resulted in a new population of caregivers to elderly members: young adults. Our study provides both quantitative and qualitative findings on children and grandchildren (N = 43), aged 40 years and younger, sending as the major source of support to an older relative(s), Intervention strategies for professionals in direct contact with this age group are outlined. Key Words: family caregiving, filial roles, grand hildrern young admit children. As families enter the 21st century. there appears to be an emerging trend of young adult children and grandchildren who are serving as primary caregivers to elderly relatives. Research on caregiving families conducted at the Philadelphia Geriatric Center suggests that as many as one out of every three primary caregivers to aged relatives is 40 years and younger (Brody; 1995). National surveys of households estimate that 22 to 28% of unpaid primary caregivers to elderly relatives or friends are young adults (Alyward, 1996; Center on Elderly People Living Alone, 1995). "Primary caregiver" refers to the one person most responsible far providing care to the. older adult on a daily basis (Stephens, Franks, & Townsend, 1994. Although the traditional primary caregivers of elderly relatives are middle-aged women, middle-aged males also appear to be actively involved in the care of older parents. National surveys of caregivers indicate that 10-12% of sons are primary caregivers to ill parents (Stone, Cafferata, & Sangl, 1987. Like their female counterparts, these sons provide hands-on care, emotional support, and share their homes with parents (Harris, 1998). In addition, middle-aged sons, like daughters, in primary caregiver roles to elderly parents, find the task enormous, difficult, and emotionally demanding (Harris, 1998). With the steadily increasing number of parents and other family members (grand- and great grandparents, aunts, and uncles) living into their 80s, 94s, and beyond, additional family members are likely to assume caregiving roles to help out the traditional middle-aged caregivers. In particular, young adult children and grandchildren have. recently been identified as a new population of primary caregivers to elderly relatives (Barnhart, 1992; Brody, 1995; Giarrusso, Silverstein, & Bengston, 1996). Furthermore, this current trend of young adults taking on caregiving roles to older relatives is likely to continue in light of three demographic predictions. First of all, nearly l Sic of family members today are over age 65 years, and it is projected that many of these members will live at least a decade longer than earlier cohorts (Bronfenbrenner, McClelland, Wethington, Moen, & Ceci, 1996). Second, the number of adults over age 65 is expected to double in the next 40 years, with the most rapidly growing segment being the old-old, defined as those aged 85 and older (Bronfenbrenner et al., 1996). Third, the expansion of the family to four and five generations is predicted to soon be the norm, due to the substantial increase in the ald-old members. To date, research has yet to focus specifically on the young adult population of primary caregivers to elderly family members. While differences of opinion may exist on when the young adult years begin and end, predominant lifespan researchers currently define this stage as occurring between the ages of 18 and 40 (Papalia, Camp, & Feldman, 1996; Schaie & Willis, 1996). Although recent family caregiving studies have included this age group, in all cases, the samples were heterogeneous in age, combining the young adult caregivers with the middle-aged and older caregivers (e.g., Farran, Keane-Hagerty, Salloway, Kupferer, & Wilken, 1991; Harris, 1998; Neal, Ingersoll-Dayton, & Starrels, 1997; Orbell & Gillies, 1993; Pruchno; Peters, & Burant, 1995; Stephens et al., 1994; Strawbridge, Wallhagen, Shema, & Kaptan, 1997; Talkington-Boyer & Synder, 1994). …