Workshop on Strengths and Competences to Improve Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life of Grandparents

Study Overview
=================
Brief Summary
-----------------
Recent social and demographic changes in Western countries have led to a reorganization of the family relationships, such as grandparents-grandchildren bond. The Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) shows, on the one hand, that 52% of grandparents are auxiliary caregivers of their grandchildren and, on the other hand, that more than 15% of grandparents regularly care for their grandchildren, being the Spanish percentage the second highest of Europe. Given these figures, it is clear that many grandparents today are playing an important role as socializing agents for their grandchildren. According to this, grandparents play their socializing rol by passing on their grandchildren skills, experiences, values, beliefs and affection. This bond not only influences positively on grandchildren, but also on grandparents. Caring for grandchildren allows grandparents to resolve the crises of generativity and integrity of self, included in Erikson's Theory of Psychosocial Development. Moreover, high leves of generativity are related with greater personal growth, one of the dimensions of psychological wellbeing. However, the literature on the socializing rol of grandparents is scarce and has focus on the negative effects of caring for grandchildren. In contrast, recent studies demonstrates that caring for grandchildren has positive effect on grandparents' health and life satisfaction. Being important to consider the negative consequences of this type of care, is also necessary to develop a new perspective, focus on protective factors of grandparents' psychological wellbeing and quality of life. According to McCubbin's Resilience Model of Family Stress, Adjustment and Adaptation, psychological resources and coping skills could be protective factors, minimizing the impact of caring for grandchildren. The present project considers two protective factors: personal strengths and emotional competences, variables that are worked on the workshops. By focusing on these aspects, not only an improvement in family relationships (grandparents-parents-grandchildren) is expected, but also an increase in the psychological well-being and quality of life of the participants. The development of intervention programs aimed at protective factors could be useful for grandparent caregivers, promoting their psychological well-being and quality of life.

Detailed Description
-----------------
The study intervention consists of a psychoeducational group workshop oriented to grandparents caring for at least one minor grandchild. The workshop includes 5 sessions and a follow-up call. The duration of the sessions is about 90 minutes. The modality is online. The sessions and their objectives are detailed below: - Session 1: Defining my role as a grandparent. To frame the topic, get to know the participants and build a good group atmosphere. - Session 2: Deepening my relationships. To promote participants' confidence as grandparents. - Session 3: Growing as a grandparent. To help participants become aware of useful caregiving strategies. - Session 4: Discovering my emotional world. To help participants learn about and understand their own emotional world. - Session 5. Caring for others and caring for me. To help participants live their role as a grandparent without displacing other vital elements important to them. - Follow-up. Phone call. To offer participants a final one-on-one meeting.

Official Title
-----------------
Values and Virtues of Grandparents Caring for Their Grandchildren as Protective Factors of Their Health and Psychological Wellbeing

Conditions
-----------------
Psychological Well-being, Quality of Life, Virtues, Skill, Coping

Intervention / Treatment
-----------------
* Behavioral: Psychoeducational Workshop on Personal Strengths and Emotional Competences to Improve the Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life of Grandparents Caring for Their Grandchildren


Participation Criteria
=================
Eligibility Criteria
-----------------
Inclusion Criteria: Being grandparent of, at least, one minor children or adolescent. Exclusion Criteria: Suffer from a disease that makes the person unable to understand the questionnaire (e.g., moderate-severe dementia).
Sexes Eligible for Study
-----------------
All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
-----------------
Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
=================
How is the study designed?
-----------------

Design Details

Primary Purpose: Supportive Care
Allocation: Non-Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Interventional Model Description: Quantitative, observational and longitudinal study with three measurements (pre-intervention, post-intervention and monitoring). The measurements will be taken before the intervention, at the end of the intervention and at three months.
Masking: None (Open Label)


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Experimental group<br>The experimental group is given the Workshop on Strengths and Competences to Improve Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life of Grandparents. | Behavioral: Psychoeducational Workshop on Personal Strengths and Emotional Competences to Improve the Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life of Grandparents Caring for Their Grandchildren<br>* The intervention is a psychoeducational group workshop (6-8 participants). It includes 5 sessions of, approximately, 90 minutes. In addition, 3 months after the end of the workshop, a follow-up call will be organized with the participants. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the workshop will be held online. The sessions are: Session 1: Defining my role as grandparent. Session 2: Deepening my relationships. Session 3: Growing as grandparent. Session 4: Discovering my emotional world. Session 5: Caring for others and caring for myself.<br>|
| No Intervention: Control group<br>The control group is not given the Workshop on Strengths and Competences to Improve Psychological Wellbeing and Quality of Life of Grandparents. | |

What is the study measuring?
-----------------
Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Grandparents' psychological wellbeing | Psychological wellbeing will be evaluated with Ryff's Psychological Wellbeing Scale. Scale values: 1 (very inadequate to describe me), 2 (quite inadequate to describe me), 3 (some inadequate to describe me), 4 (some adequate to describe me), 5 (quite adequate to describe me), 6 (very adequate to describe me). Interpretation: the higher the score, the greater the psychological wellbeing of the person being assessed. | Through study completion, an average of 2 years | 
| Grandparents' quality of life | Quality of life will be evaluated with CASP-12. Scale values: 1 (sometimes), 2, 3, 4 (never). Interpretation: the higher the score, the greater the quality of life of the person being assessed. | Through study completion, an average of 2 years | 
| Grandparents' involvement and burnout | Involvement and burnout will be evaluated with Multidimensional Experience of Grandparenthood Set of Inventories. Scale values: 1 (totally disagree), 2, 3, 4, 5 (totally agree). Interpretation: the higher the score, the greater the involvement and burnout of the person being assessed as grandparent. | Through study completion, an average of 2 years | 
| Grandparents' emotional competences | Emotional competences will be evaluated with Grandparents Emotional Competency Scale. Scale values: 1 (never), 2 (sometimes), 3 (almost always), 4 (always). Interpretation: the higher the score, the greater the emotional competences of the person being assessed as grandparent. | Through study completion, an average of 2 years | 
| Grandparents' character strengths | Character strengths will be evaluated with Psychological Resources Inventory-77 items. Scale values: 0 (totally disagree), 1, 2, 3 (totally agree). Interpretation: the higher the score, the greater the character strengths of the person being assessed. | Through study completion, an average of 2 years | 

 Terms related to the study
=================
Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
-----------------
Grandparents-grandchildren relationship, Grandparents caregivers, Grandparenthood, Supplementary care, Psychological well-being, Quality of life, Personal strengths, Emotional competences, Psychoeducational group intervention