Measuring grandparenthood stress and reward: Developing a scale based on perceptions by grandparents with adolescent grandchildren in Hong Kong

Lou Vivian Wei-Qun

Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; and

Iris Chi

Golden Age Association Frances Wu Chair Professor for Chinese Elders, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

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Lou Vivian Wei-Qun,

Lou Vivian Wei-Qun

Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; and

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Iris Chi,

Iris Chi

Golden Age Association Frances Wu Chair Professor for Chinese Elders, School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA

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First published: 11 November 2008

https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1447-0594.2008.00484.x

Citations: 7

Assistant Professor Lou Vivian Wei-Qun PhD, Department of Social Work, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China. Email: [email protected]

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Abstract

Aim: To develop a Grandparent Stress and Reward Scale (GSRS) for grandparents with adolescent grandchildren in a Chinese context.

Methods: Twenty-three grandparents with adolescent grandchildren were given in-depth interviews on perceived grandparenthood stress and reward to develop the GSRS. The GSRS was then tested on 107 older adults (mean age, 75.8 years) whose youngest grandchildren were aged 12 or older, living in the community, and were recruited from elderly service agencies. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with a standardized questionnaire which included the GSRS, Life Satisfaction Scale for Chinese Elders (LSS-C), a single-item measure on grandparenthood stress, and demographic measures.

Results: The GSRS has satisfactory structure validity. It measures three aspects of reward (self-esteem and life satisfaction, life-long learning opportunity, and grandchildren support), and two aspects of stress (relationship-oriented stress and grandchildren-oriented stress). GSRS was correlated with LSS-C and perceived grandparenthood stress as theoretically expected, which supported its criteria-related validity. It also had satisfactory reliability based on the internal consistency coefficient.

Conclusions: The GSRS was a valid and reliable measure that assesses meaning given to grandparents' perception on reward and stress in relations with adolescent grandchildren in a Chinese context. The underlying construct of the scale suggested that the meaning given to grandparenthood in the Chinese context was still influenced by the Confucian tradition.

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December 2008

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