IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2021i1p103-d709237.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Italian Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents: Difficulties Experienced and Support Needed in Intergenerational Caregiving—Qualitative Findings from a European Union Funded Project

Author

Listed:
  • Barbara D’Amen

    (Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Aging, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy)

  • Marco Socci

    (Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Aging, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy)

  • Mirko Di Rosa

    (Laboratory of Geriatric Pharmacoepidemiology, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy)

  • Giulia Casu

    (Department of Psychology “Renzo Canestrari”, University of Bologna, Viale Berti Pichat 5, 40127 Bologna, Italy)

  • Licia Boccaletti

    (Anziani e Non Solo Società Cooperativa Sociale, Via Lenin 55, 41012 Carpi, Italy)

  • Elizabeth Hanson

    (Department Health and Caring Sciences, Linnaeus University, SE-39182 Kalmar, Sweden
    The Swedish Family Care Competence Centre, Strömgatan 13, SE-39232 Kalmar, Sweden)

  • Sara Santini

    (Centre for Socio-Economic Research on Aging, IRCCS INRCA-National Institute of Health and Science on Aging, Via Santa Margherita 5, 60124 Ancona, Italy)

Abstract

The article aims to describe the experiences of 87 Italian adolescent young caregivers (AYCs) of grandparents (GrPs), with reference to the caregiving stress appraisal model (CSA) that provides a theoretical lens to explore the difficulties encountered and support needed in their caring role. Qualitative data were drawn from an online survey conducted within an EU Horizon 2020 funded project. An inductive thematic analysis was carried out, and the findings were critically interpreted within the conceptual framework of the CSA model. The analysis highlighted three categories of difficulties: material, communication and emotional/psychological. The most common material difficulty was the physical strain associated with moving “uncooperative” disabled older adults. The types of support needed concerned both emotional and material support. The study provides a deeper understanding of the under-studied experiences of AYCs of GrPs. Based on these findings, policies and support measures targeted at AYCs of GrPs should include early needs detection, emotional support and training on intergenerational caring in order to mitigate the stress drivers. Moreover, the study advances the conceptualisation of the CSA model by considering the above-mentioned aspects related to intergenerational caregiving.

Suggested Citation

  • Barbara D’Amen & Marco Socci & Mirko Di Rosa & Giulia Casu & Licia Boccaletti & Elizabeth Hanson & Sara Santini, 2021. "Italian Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents: Difficulties Experienced and Support Needed in Intergenerational Caregiving—Qualitative Findings from a European Union Funded Project," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(1), pages 1-14, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:103-:d:709237
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/103/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/1/103/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ellen Verbakel & Silke F Metzelthin & Gertrudis I J M Kempen, 2018. "Caregiving to Older Adults: Determinants of Informal Caregivers’ Subjective Well-being and Formal and Informal Support as Alleviating Conditions," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 73(6), pages 1099-1111.
    2. Christophe Courbage & Guillem Montoliu-Montes & Joël Wagner, 2020. "The effect of long-term care public benefits and insurance on informal care from outside the household: empirical evidence from Italy and Spain," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 21(8), pages 1131-1147, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rapp, Thomas & Ronchetti, Jérome & Sicsic, Jonathan, 2022. "Impact of formal care consumption on informal care use in Europe: What is happening at the beginning of dependency?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(7), pages 632-642.
    2. Miao Guo & Yang Li & Minghao Wu & Terence C. Cheng, 2024. "Services and Cash: How Long-term Care Insurance Benefit Design Affects Household Behavior in China," Papers 2024-13, Centre for Health Economics, Monash University.
    3. Longobardo, Luz María Peña & Rodríguez-Sánchez, Beatriz & Oliva, Juan, 2023. "Does becoming an informal caregiver make your health worse? A longitudinal analysis across Europe," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 50(C).
    4. Eling, Martin & Ghavibazoo, Omid & Hanewald, Katja, 2021. "Willingness to take financial risks and insurance holdings: A European survey," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    5. Sara Santini & Barbara D’Amen & Marco Socci & Mirko Di Rosa & Elizabeth Hanson & Valentina Hlebec, 2022. "Difficulties and Needs of Adolescent Young Caregivers of Grandparents in Italy and Slovenia: A Concurrent Mixed-Methods Study," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(5), pages 1-20, February.
    6. Mirian Fernández Salido & Carolina Moreno-Castro & Francesco Belletti & Stecy Yghemonos & Jorge Garcès Ferrer & Georgia Casanova, 2022. "Innovating European Long-Term Care Policies through the Socio-Economic Support of Families: A Lesson from Practices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-12, March.
    7. Tongbo Deng & Yafan Fan & Mengdi Wu & Min Li, 2022. "Older People’s Long-Term Care Preferences in China: The Impact of Living with Grandchildren on Older People’s Willingness and Family Decisions," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-18, September.
    8. Cieplinski, André & D'Alessandro, Simone & Dwarkasing, Chandni & Guarnieri, Pietro, 2023. "Narrowing women’s time and income gaps: An assessment of the synergies between working time reduction and universal income schemes," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    9. Katja Möhring & Sabine Zinn & Ulrike Ehrlich, 2023. "Family care during the first COVID-19 lockdown in Germany: longitudinal evidence on consequences for the well-being of caregivers," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 20(1), pages 1-11, December.
    10. Lawrence B. Sacco & Stefanie König & Hugo Westerlund & Loretta G. Platts, 2022. "Informal Caregiving and Quality of Life Among Older Adults: Prospective Analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 845-866, April.
    11. Chen, Lu & Fan, Hongli & Chu, Lanlan, 2019. "The hidden cost of informal care: An empirical study on female caregivers' subjective well-being," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 224(C), pages 85-93.
    12. Oliver Fisher, 2021. "The Impact of Micro and Macro Level Factors on the Working and Living Conditions of Migrant Care Workers in Italy and Israel—A Scoping Review," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(2), pages 1-33, January.
    13. Sacco, Lawrence B & König, Stefanie & Westerlund, Hugo & Platts, Loretta G., 2020. "Informal caregiving and quality of life among older adults: Prospective analyses from the Swedish Longitudinal Occupational Survey of Health (SLOSH)," SocArXiv qk6xr, Center for Open Science.
    14. Christophe Courbage & Guillem Montoliu-Montes & Joël Wagner, 2023. "On children’s motives to influence parents’ long-term care insurance purchase: evidence from Switzerland," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 48(1), pages 102-129, January.
    15. Sara Santini & Marco Socci & Barbara D’Amen & Mirko Di Rosa & Giulia Casu & Valentina Hlebec & Feylyn Lewis & Agnes Leu & Renske Hoefman & Rosita Brolin & Lennart Magnusson & Elizabeth Hanson, 2020. "Positive and Negative Impacts of Caring among Adolescents Caring for Grandparents. Results from an Online Survey in Six European Countries and Implications for Future Research, Policy and Practice," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(18), pages 1-16, September.
    16. Sara Santini & Marco Socci & Paolo Fabbietti & Giovanni Lamura & Andrea Teti, 2022. "Factors Worsening and Mitigating the Consequences of the COVID-19 Outbreak on the Overall Health of Informal Caregivers of Older People with Long-Term Care Needs Living in Germany and in Italy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(3), pages 1-21, February.
    17. Carlo Lallo & Marta Pasqualini & Cecilia Tomassini, 2022. "Trends in the Use of Home LTC Services in Large, Medium and Small Municipalities in Italy: Lessons for the Post-COVID-19 Reappraisal," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-12, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2021:i:1:p:103-:d:709237. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.