Abstract
Grandparents can play a supportive role when parents are divorced, but we know little about how important they actually are for the well-being of grandchildren. Existing studies do not distinguish between grandparental lineages. But a parental divorce usually has different consequences for relationships with grandparents on each side of the family, especially contacts with paternal grandparents getting hampered. And evolutionary perspectives suggest that maternal grandparents are more beneficial to grandchildren’s well-being than paternal grandparents. Using a sample of grandchildren with divorced parents from the study ‘Divorce in Flanders’, we study whether the quality of relationships with maternal and paternal grandparents associate with grandchildren’s subjective well-being. Our results indicate that, although relationships with maternal grandparents tend to be closer than those with paternal grandparents, the strength of relationships with maternal as well as paternal grandparents is positively associated with the well-being of grandchildren with divorced parents. This suggests that not only maternal grandparents, but also grandparents on the father’s side of the family may play a beneficial role for their grandchildren in the often difficult times after a parental divorce.
Highlights
Increased longevity and lower fertility imply that the life courses of grandchildren and grandparents often overlap for several decades and that grandparents potentially have more time to spend on each grandchild (Arber & Timonen 2012)
Our study showed that grandchildren in divorced families can benefit from close relationships with paternal as well as maternal grandparents
Using data provided by grandchildren and their divorced parents in the multi-actor survey Divorce in Flanders, we studied the association between the quality of grandchildgrandparent relationships and grandchildren’s life satisfaction and self-esteem
Summary
Increased longevity and lower fertility imply that the life courses of grandchildren and grandparents often overlap for several decades and that grandparents potentially have more time to spend on each grandchild (Arber & Timonen 2012). As grandparents are often considered as latent resources activated in times of family crisis, divorce may enhance the importance of grandparents for the support and well-being of their grandchildren (Bengtson 2001; Johnson 1998; Thompson 1999). This study investigates the quality of the relationships between grandchildren and their grandparents This represents emotional closeness or the affectual dimension of intergenerational family solidarity (Bengtson & Roberts 1991). According to Euler (2011), grandchildren’s rating of closeness to a grandparent is one of the best indicators of grandparental investment, from an evolutionary perspective. Grandparental investments refer to all resources, including care and time, that grandparents provide to benefit their grandchildren’s fitness and the opportunity costs that come with it (Coall & Hertwig 2011). When investments in children are done sensitively and responsively, they forge emotional bonds (Euler 2011)
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