THE BENEFITS OF GRANDPARENTING WHEN GRANDPARENTS OR GRANDCHILDREN ARE NOT AVAILABLE

Abstract

Grandparent-grandchild relationships can contribute to individual development and relational health. However, these relationships are not always available to the youth and elders who might join them. Families emigrating from other countries may leave grandparents behind and have limited opportunity for exchange of cultural traditions, for example. Even when a grandparent-grandchild relationship exists, the relationship quality may be poor, denying members the chance to benefit from familial intergenerational contact. For these and other reasons, the potential benefits of non-familial intergenerational relationships should be considered. The current presentation addresses address non-familial intergenerational relationships that allow youth and elders to experience grandparent-like relationships when grandparents or grandchildren may not be available to each other, giving consideration to contemporary demographic, structural, and historical influences affecting availability of familial intergenerational relationships, theories addressing the imperative of intergenerational relationships, and evidence of the impact of non-familial intergenerational contact on youth and on elders.