Patterns and Predictors of Support Group Use by Custodial Grandmothers and Grandchildren

Abstract

Despite increasing popularity of support groups for custodial grandfamilies, the few published studies to date raise questions regarding actual support group usage and disregard predictors of such use. This study examined patterns of self-reported use, need, and unmet need of both grandparent and grandchild support groups. The Andersen Social Behavioral Model was used to identify predisposing, enabling, and need factors that predicted use in a national sample of 733 grandfamilies recruited by either convenience or population-based strategies. Reported use and need for support groups were lower in the population-based sample, and predictors varied by sampling strategy. The findings are discussed in terms of how they inform service providers and researchers regarding factors that influence support group use by custodial grandfamilies.