Avós em famílias com crianças com Síndrome de Down

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the psychological well-being and the participation of grandparents in the families of their sons who have a child with Down Syndrome (DS). The study participants were 40 grandparents of children with SD. Of this total 27 grandmothers and 13 grandfathers, 24 maternal and 16 paternal. The instruments used were: Questionnaire of Family System Characteristics, a checklist on frequency and types of activities realized by grandparents and grandchildren, and EDEP. The results have showed that grandparents provide emotional and practical support to their children's families and a minority contribute financially. A small part plays the role of grandparent’s caregivers, being a task, predominantly, of maternal grandmothers. With regard to the psychological well-being of the participants, good levels were obtained, with higher scores in the dimensions: environmental mastery, personal growth and self-acceptance. About the dimension generativity, creating, was the one with the lowest average score among the participants. No statistically significant differences were found in the sociodemographic characteristics of sex, age, marital status, income, education and who lives with them. However, the survey results point to a statistically significant difference in the psychological well-being score between retired grandparents and those who work, with the economically active ones having the highest levels. In addition, women's average scores for personal growth and for life purpose were higher than those reported by men. Since coexistence between several generations has been growing in Brazilian society, further investigations with grandparents in their children's families are necessary to obtain more empirical data to plan new policies and social interventions that meet local needs.