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Mental Health Stress, Family Resources and Psychological Distress: A Longitudinal Mediation Analysis in African American Grandmothers Raising Grandchildren
Author(s) -
Whitley Deborah M.,
Lamis Dorian A.,
Kelley Susan J.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of clinical psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.124
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1097-4679
pISSN - 0021-9762
DOI - 10.1002/jclp.22272
Subject(s) - psychology , mental health , generalizability theory , mediation , clinical psychology , distress , psychological intervention , context (archaeology) , psychological distress , developmental psychology , psychiatry , paleontology , political science , law , biology
Objectives This study examines the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary intervention for African American grandmothers raising grandchildren on the relationship between dichotomized levels of mental health stress (low vs. high) and elevated levels of psychological distress, mediated by perceptions of family resources. Method A nonrandom sample of African American grandmothers (N = 679) was assessed to test the predictive relations among study constructs in the context of a prospective mediational model. Results Perception of family resources contributes to lower psychological distress among custodial grandmothers exhibiting low and high levels of mental health stress. There was no significant difference in the strength of the mediated effects between the 2 mental health stress groups. Conclusion The findings suggest appropriate resource‐focused interventions can enhance grandmothers’ subjective assessments of family resources and reduce psychological distress. However, additional research is needed to ascertain the consistency and generalizability of findings.