TY - JOUR
T1 - Risk and protective factors for African American kinship caregiving
T2 - A scoping review
AU - Wu, Qi
AU - Zhu, Yiqi
AU - Brevard, Kanisha
AU - Wu, Shiyou
AU - Krysik, Judy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023
PY - 2024/1
Y1 - 2024/1
N2 - Background: African American children are disproportionately placed in kinship care, specifically with kin caregivers who have pressing service needs given their relatively poor physical and mental health, and low economic status. Kinship caregivers often face challenges, however, they also show resilience when raising relative children. Although the literature has examined risk and protective factors that affect kinship caregiving, no scoping review has been conducted to summarize these factors as they relate to African American kinship caregivers. Objectives: This study aims to summarize the risk and protective factors that affect African American kinship caregiving. Methods: Twenty-six studies were identified from this scoping review. A data template was used to extract information on data/sample, research methods, and risk and protective factors. Results: This review found that the risk and protective factors in the identified studies can be summarized into four types: child, caregiver, relationship, and legal, cultural or social issues. Caregiver factors were examined from the perspective of physical and behavioral health, parenting, and resources. The most common risk factors were caregivers’ low social economic status or great financial need, and caregivers’ physical health. The most common protective factor was caregivers’ spirituality or religion. Discussion: This review helps to better understand the risk and protective factors for African American kinship caregivers. Policies should be informed by African American kinship caregivers’ unique qualities to provide useful cultural solutions. Evidence based interventions should be developed and provided to African American kinship caregivers to improve their parenting abilities and to provide them with additional resources and supports. Implications for child welfare research are also presented.
AB - Background: African American children are disproportionately placed in kinship care, specifically with kin caregivers who have pressing service needs given their relatively poor physical and mental health, and low economic status. Kinship caregivers often face challenges, however, they also show resilience when raising relative children. Although the literature has examined risk and protective factors that affect kinship caregiving, no scoping review has been conducted to summarize these factors as they relate to African American kinship caregivers. Objectives: This study aims to summarize the risk and protective factors that affect African American kinship caregiving. Methods: Twenty-six studies were identified from this scoping review. A data template was used to extract information on data/sample, research methods, and risk and protective factors. Results: This review found that the risk and protective factors in the identified studies can be summarized into four types: child, caregiver, relationship, and legal, cultural or social issues. Caregiver factors were examined from the perspective of physical and behavioral health, parenting, and resources. The most common risk factors were caregivers’ low social economic status or great financial need, and caregivers’ physical health. The most common protective factor was caregivers’ spirituality or religion. Discussion: This review helps to better understand the risk and protective factors for African American kinship caregivers. Policies should be informed by African American kinship caregivers’ unique qualities to provide useful cultural solutions. Evidence based interventions should be developed and provided to African American kinship caregivers to improve their parenting abilities and to provide them with additional resources and supports. Implications for child welfare research are also presented.
KW - African American
KW - Kinship caregiving
KW - Protective factor
KW - Risk factor
KW - Scoping review
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85178176429&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107279
DO - 10.1016/j.childyouth.2023.107279
M3 - Article
C2 - 37997598
AN - SCOPUS:85178176429
SN - 0190-7409
VL - 156
JO - Children and Youth Services Review
JF - Children and Youth Services Review
M1 - 107279
ER -