Role Of Grandparents Research Articles

The longitudinal associations among grandparent-grandchild cohesion, cultural beliefs about adversity, and depression in Chinese rural left-behind children.

This study examined the effects of grandparent-grandchild cohesion on the cross-lagged associations between depression and cultural beliefs about adversity in a sample of 625 rural left-behind children in China. Grandparent-grandchild cohesion was concurrently and longitudinally associated with children's depression and cultural beliefs about adversity. Cultural beliefs about adversity mediated the associations between grandparent-grandchild cohesion and children's depression, while depression mediated the associations between grandparent-grandchild cohesion and children's beliefs about adversity. Left-behind status differences were also found in mediation models. These findings suggest the important role of grandparent-grandchild cohesion in left-behind children's adjustment.

Grandparents of Children With Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities: Navigating Roles and Relationships.

Grandparents can play critical roles in the lives of children with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. However, current research and understanding around grandparent roles and experiences is limited. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine the roles and experiences of grandparents supporting children with disabilities. In this article, the voices of grandparents with diverse experiences are presented. Key themes that emerged were the role of the grandparent, boundaries in roles and space, navigating family dynamics, and the general experiences of grandparenting. These findings have implications for the types of supports provided to grandparents and for practitioners working with families who have actively involved grandparents.

The Role of Grandparents in Supporting Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: A Family Systems Approach.

A family systems approach is required to identify the needs of families of children with autism. This paper explores how grandparents support children with autism and their parents using a family systems perspective. A thematic analysis of eighteen semi-structured interviews was conducted with participants from nine families, capturing experiences of both parents' and grandparents'. Themes identified were family recalibrating; strengthening the family system; and current needs and future concerns of grandparents. The views of families indicated the overwhelming need to acknowledge the grandparental role in supporting families that strengthen the family system by supporting the needs of a child with autism. Findings revealed that grandfathers have a calming role in these families where children have significant behavioural difficulties.

Role of Grandparents in Childhood Obesity during First Two Years of Life

Childhood obesity is a public health problem in the United States. One consideration that remains relatively unexplored is the influence of the grandparent on weight status of the grandchild in ages 0-2 years.

As you sow, so shall you reap: Understanding the social-emotional development of a select group of Filipino grandchildren reared by grandparent educators

ABSTRACTIn light of new family structures and patterns that continue to emerge in contemporary society, grandparents are delegated with a more active role in child-rearing, particularly during the crucial stages of their grandchildren’s development. In industrialized countries, empirical studies have indicated the link between grandparents’ educational attainment vis-à-vis their caregiving roles and the social-emotional development of grandchildren. Such findings call for further investigation especially from the perspective of a developing country with a collectivist culture such as the Philippines. Here, the vital role of grandparents is highly recognized and appreciated. This study argues that the grandparent who is a professional educator significantly contributes to the positive social-emotional development of grandchildren, hence this phenomenological inquiry. A semi–structured interview was employed as the main data gathering tool. Field texts were subjected to vertical and horizontal analyses to abstract the essence of the phenomenon and were validated through member checking procedures and critical friend technique. The study revealed a portrait of the influence of grandparenting on the development of the social-emotional aspect of a select group of Filipino grandchildren. The Pendulum of Social-Emotional Development typifies the dynamic nature of Filipino grandparenting that exerts a vibrant influence and synergistic force of endearing, endowing and enduring. Said forces situate the grandchildren in a context where the following gifts are experienced: attribution and accommodation, retention and repercussion, and configuration and concession.

Grandparenting from a distance: experiences of nursing home residents

ABSTRACTWhen elderly relocate to nursing homes, the relationship with grandchildren changes significantly. The purpose of this study was to explore these changes as well as grandparent role satisfaction after relocation. For purposes of studying these research questions, eight nursing home dwelling grandparents participated in semi-structured interviews. The results of the study provided an enhanced understanding of the factors related to long-distance relationships of residential care facility-dwelling grandparents and grandchildren, such as the evolution of the relationships, level of grandparent role satisfaction, and coping mechanisms related to the challenges of maintaining these long-distance relationships.

Three-generation mobility in the United States, 1850–1940: The role of maternal and paternal grandparents

This paper estimates intergenerational elasticities across three generations in the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, exploring how maternal and paternal grandfathers predict the economic status of their grandsons and granddaughters. We document that the relationship between the income of grandparents and grandchildren differs by gender. The socio-economic status of grandsons is more strongly associated with the status of paternal grandfathers than maternal grandfathers. The status of maternal grandfathers is more strongly correlated with the status of granddaughters than grandsons, while the opposite is true for paternal grandfathers. We argue that the findings can be rationalized by a model of gender-specific intergenerational transmission of traits and imperfect assortative mating.

Resource Compensation from the Extended Family: Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles in Finland and the United States

The majority of studies on social and educational mobility neglect the role of the extended family. We argue that this misses important ways in which extended family members may help compensate disadvantage in children’s immediate family. Moreover, existing studies on extended family members have focused on grandparents, with only a couple of studies considering aunts and uncles. We examine the role of both grandparents’ and aunts and uncles’ resources in Finland and the United States using longitudinal panel data (Finnish Census Panel and the Panel Study for Income Dynamics (PSID)). Our results suggest that aunts and uncles’ resources contribute more than those of grandparents. Moreover, we find evidence for extended family compensation in completing upper secondary education and the avoidance of low pay in both countries. The results suggest that compensation by aunts and uncles takes place for the avoidance of marginalization and is particularly likely when both parents and grandparents have low resources.

Grandparents providing childcare in Italy.

Research on the choices of childcare arrangements in Italy shows the fundamental role of grandparents in providing informal childcare. Therefore, it is important to understand how grandparents provide different types of childcare, especially in terms of differences in their socio-economic, demographic and physical status, jointly with the characteristics of their grandchildren. Grandparents aged 50 and over with at least one non-co-resident grandchild aged 13years or less were selected from the 2009 Italian household survey. Multilevel multinomial logistic regression models for grandmothers and grandfathers were used to identify the determinants of the probability of providing childcare intensively, occasionally or during school holidays rather than never. The probability of a grandparent providing intensive childcare is significantly reduced by being: male, unmarried, in bad health and with inadequate economic resources. Nevertheless, when analysing the probability of providing childcare occasionally or during holidays, the individual characteristics of grandparents and grandchildren are less significant compared to intensive childcare, meaning that grandparents provide non-intensive care regardless of their individual characteristics, and this is particularly true for grandmothers. Results confirm the fundamental importance of grandparents in providing informal childcare in Italy, and they offer useful information to understand the individual characteristics associated with different types of grandparental childcare.

"We Raise our Grandchildren as our Own:" Alaska Native Grandparents Raising Grandchildren in Southwest Alaska.

This study explores continuity and change in the roles of rural Alaska Native grandparents, describing their importance in contemporary Yup'ik social life and structure. The study is distinctive in its focus on the experiences of Yup'ik grandparents who are primary caregivers raising their grandchildren in Southwest Alaska. Qualitative data were gathered using a semi-structured interview from 20 Yup'ik grandparents, ages 46 to 95, who raised their grandchildren as the primary caregiver for at least one year. Content analysis was used to establish a culturally grounded understanding of the role of a grandparent raising grandchildren and meanings of these roles to Yup'ik grandparents. Findings reveal areas of continuity and change in the role and place of grandparents in Yup'ik families and communities. Important continuities persist in the role of Yup'ik grandparents, who continue to be a vital resource within their families and communities. As in the past, the grandparent role is essential in passing down cultural knowledge, upholding traditional Yup'ik values and teachings, and facilitating development of a strong and healthy cultural identity among youth. However, significant change has taken place within Yup'ik communities as a result of Western colonization. Grandparent roles are also shifting and expanding as a result of these changes, as part of an adaptive community response to ensure the safety and well-being of youth during times of great change and disruption.

Providing regular care for grandchildren in Thailand: An analysis of the impact on grandparents’ health

One of the many roles of grandparents is the role as caretaker for their grandchildren. Studies looking into the situation of older adults providing care for their grandchildren have found that care responsibilities can have beneficial effects but can also pose challenges to those providing it, depending on individual and societal circumstances. The objective of our study is to shed light on the health effects of providing care for grandchildren younger than 10 years of age on grandparents. Whether this experience has positive or negative effects on the caretaker's health depends on a range of factors that we explore here in the context of Thailand.The study is based on the quantitative analysis of the 2011 round of the National Survey of Older Persons in Thailand. In order to control for endogeneity between health status and the provision of care, we apply several instrumental variable (IV) approaches in addition to regular regressions. In terms of health status, we make use of four health-related variables: self-reported health status, functional limitations, happiness level and information about negative feelings. The observed positive impact of grandparenting on three health outcomes that we find with non-endogeneity-controlled OLS analyses is likely due to reverse causality or self-selection into becoming a grandparent who provides care. The unbiased results imply that regularly taking care of young grandchildren does not provide any physical health benefits; to the contrary, it seems to have a negative impact on self-rated health, functional limitations and psychological well-being, supporting the role strain theory.

The Role of Grandparents in the Child's Personality Formation (on the Material of Children's Literature)

In the article the concept of family is analyzed, the significance of the family model is disclosed, the role of grandparents in the formation of the child's personality is revealed. The goal of the article is to point out the possibility of improving the reading culture in the case of an awareness of the grandparents’ role in the children upbringing. The research is based on the methodological interdisciplinary and systematic principles, presented in the modern socio-humanistic knowledge. Comparative-contrastive methodology allows you to consider the features and patterns of the figurative structure of a work of fiction recommended for the family reading. Relying on the historical, cultural, sociocultural, typological approaches, it allows establishing a typological commonality of the artistic image of grandparents.The biographical method, as well as the linguistic analysis of the literary text, makes it possible to take into account the individual style of the authors while selecting works for the family reading.It is proved that images of active grandmothers and grandfathers dominate in the literary texts of the world literature, in the creation of which zoological and floral portraits-comparisons are used.The material for the study is the works of Russian and foreign literature. The works of Russian literature werethe material of the study: M. Gorky (Childhood, Grandfather Arkhip and Lyonka), V. Astafyev (The Horse with a Pink Mane, The Last Bow), N. Nosov (Shurik at Grandfather's place) , N. Abgaryan (Manyunya, Chocolate Grandfather), D. Sabitov (Your Three Names), M. Aromshtam (When Angels Rest), V. Vostokov (FrosyaKorovina), as well as some works of foreign children's prose: A. Nanetti (My grandfather was a cherry), M. Lobe (Grandma on the apple tree), M. Parr (Waffle Heart), I. Prokhazkina (Grandmother with wings ).

The Good Grandparent: Perspectives of Young Adults

ABSTRACTAs life expectancy increases, the role of grandparent has increased in duration and is continually adapting as families change in structure, function and form. Across the past several decades, researchers have examined grandparenting styles, finding some consistency as well as the emergence of newer styles, and evidence that grandparenting styles are related to the age and gender of both the grandparents and the grandchildren. In this study, we investigated young adults’ perceptions of grandparenting quality. University Students (N = 470) from a Midwestern university responded to an online survey that asked them to evaluate the quality of their grandparents grandparenting now and at two retrospective points in time, childhood and adolescence. We hypothesized that the grandparents' performance of multiple styles of their role would be related to grandparenting quality. In addition, we expected that preferred grandparental roles would vary in relation to grandchildren's gender. The results of regression analysis indicated that, although grandparenting quality tended to decline across the respondents' developmental stages, higher ratings at an earlier stage were related to higher ratings at the latter two stages. Further, grandsons preferred grandparents who performed as supporters and advisors, whereas granddaughters preferred grandparents who functioned as supporter and friend. Overall, grandmothers were likely to be the more significant grandparent. Continual research on both grandchildren and grandparents will be needed to chronicle the development of the grandparental role in changing times.

Grandparenting and adolescent well-being: evidence from the UK and Israel

ABSTRACTThis article reviews the major findings of two large-scale studies on adolescent–grandparent relationship conducted in the UK and in Israel. The Israeli study followed the UK study, deepening the investigation of some of the major themes uncovered in the British study. Both studies reveal that grandmothers and grandfathers are highly involved in adolescents’ lives and that this involvement is associated with increased adolescent well-being. The studies focus on the role of grandparents in times of parental divorce and other stressful events, as well as the weaker status of the paternal grandparents in post-divorce families and the correlates of the adolescent’s relationship with the paternal grandmother. Both studies highlight the role of intergenerational relationships, including parent–grandparent and parent–adolescent bonds, in the adolescent–grandparent relationship, in line with the intergenerational solidarity model. The Israeli study deepens our understanding of the possible contributions of cultural affiliation to the child–grandparent relationship by comparing Arab and Jewish adolescents’ self-reports of their relationships with their grandparents. These studies bring to light the possible positive role of grandparent involvement. Family psychology should pay greater attention to this role and its contribution, especially in times of transition and distress in adolescents’ lives.

‘I want (to be) an active grandmother’ – activity as a new normative framework of subjective meanings and expectations associated with the grandmother role

ABSTRACTThe article analyses the norms of grandmothering in relation to cultural representations of active ageing. Based on interviews that were carried out with 20 mothers and 20 grandmothers of children under the age of ten, the article focuses on the way in which the current emphasis on activity influences ideas about how the roles of grandparent should be performed and how women relate to their own ageing. The analysis shows that being active represented a significant framework of the mothers’ notions and expectations associated with care provided by grandmothers, of grandmothers’ talk about their own grandparental role and how both generations of women interpret their own memories of their own grandmothers. Both the mothers and the grandmothers noted how the family role of grandmothers had changed compared to past generations of grandmothers. This change was framed by the idea of having an active lifestyle and this idea formed an important framework for the mothers’ expectations about what their role as grandmothers might be like in the future. This paper critically analyses those representations of the grandmother role and point out the emergence of new forms of conflicts and challenges, and the sense of ambivalence about traditional roles that result from the close association made between being active and the representation of grandmothering.

Exploring Grandparents' Roles in Young Children's Lifestyle Behaviors and the Prevention of Childhood Obesity: An Australian Perspective

Childhood obesity remains a significant public health issue. Because lifestyle behaviors and weight are established early and track through life stages, prevention strategies must commence in the first years of life. Traditionally, such strategies target parents or formal child care providers. Yet grandparents are increasingly providing care to grandchildren and therefore have an important role in their eating and activity behaviors, which creates a major research gap. This commentary piece, focusing on the Australian context, argues that it is imperative and timely for obesity prevention research to include investigations regarding the role of grandparents in the prevention of obesity-related behaviors in young children.

Grandparents' roles and psychological well-being in the elderly: a correlational study in families with an autistic child

The purpose of this study was to explore the family roles and psychological well-being of grandparents who are caregivers of grandchildren with autism spectrum disorders. The study used quantitative methods with a correlational design. A self-administered questionnaire was used as an instrument to measure the variables of psychological wellbeing and the grandparenting role. This research involved 108 grandparents from Semarang, Jepara and Kendal, obtained through a quota-purposive sampling technique. Quantitative data analysis was based on simple regression analysis. The study results showed rxy= 0.397; P = .000 (P < .05), which indicates a positive and significant correlation between the role played by grandparents and their psychological well-being. The test results indicate a significant correlation between the roles of grandparents and their psychological well-being. The greater the role played by grandparents, the higher psychological well-being they experienced, and vice versa. Grandparents play an important role in families where there is a child with autism; they take care of the child when the parents are not at home, help with the cost of therapy, and take care of them when sick.

For Grandparents\u2019 Sake: the Relationship between Grandparenting Involvement and Psychological Well-Being

The study examined the impact of role type and involvement level on psychological wellbeing among 255 South Korean grandparents. Participants in non-baseline role types (those who participated in grandparenting) tended to perceive meaning in their lives and to exhibit relatively low levels of stress and depressive mood. With respect to involvement, stress tended to decrease (β = −0.134) when this variable increased, but no relationship was found with perceived meaning or depressive mood. In addition, the hypotheses that burden of caring for grandchildren would mediate the impact of role type and involvement level on psychological wellbeing, and that respect from adult children would moderate this mediation, were supported. Four policy and practice implications are identified. First, policy makers should provide resources for seniors so that those who might benefit from actively nurturing their grandchildren can do so more readily. Second, given that significant moderated mediation emerged in terms of care burden and grandparent roles and involvement, practitioners should be aware of the interactions among grandparents, children, and grandchildren when providing counselling and other resources. Third, the study suggests the importance of applying dynamic practice models, particularly in a context like South Korea, where most families encompass more than two generations. Finally, the results have implications regarding the impact of grandparent attitudes and behaviour patterns within changing social dynamics, and practitioners should be prepared to assist clients and their families to address their evolving roles and the impacts they have on the family unit. Limitations and implications for future research are also discussed.

Grandparenting : Created by Evolution Revised by History: Still in Use Today

The ageing of Western societies and its consequences have been long focused on by extended research. Taking care of the elderly is a heavy burden for the healthcare system, the social care system and for the families, and according to statistics and projections, more and more elderly people must be supported by less and less active employees. Our study approaches the issue of ageing from another perspective: what kind of advantages are provided by the presence of the elderly for the society, what kind of positive effects do they exert through their grandparent role on the families and the society they live in. A simultaneous trend, along with ageing, is the increasing postponement in childbearing and the decreasing fertility. By analysing the former studies and works we investigate whether more and more people are experiencing grandparenthood because of their lengthening lifespan enabling them to provide help and support for the family rearing children, or grandparenthood sets in in the life of the elderly in an age when they are physically and mentally limited. In the history of humanity the development of grandparenting was an important step in the spreading of the species by increasing the chances of survival. And though the natural environment has changed significantly, we are convinced that grandparenting can provide an answer for the challenges of the present era.

Choice and Constraint in the Negotiation of the Grandparent Role: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Few studies have examined how the allocation and consequences of grandchild care vary across different socioeconomic groups. We analyze qualitative data alongside data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), in a convergent mixed-methods approach. Regression models examined characteristics associated with grandchild care, and the relationship between grandchild care and depressive symptoms and well-being. Qualitative data shed light on processes and choices that explain patterns of grandchild care provision. Tertiary-educated grandparents provided less intensive grandchild care compared with primary educated. Qualitative data indicated that this pattern stems from early boundary-drawing among higher educated grandparents while lower socioeconomic groups were constrained and less able to say no. Intensive grandchild care was associated with more depressive symptoms and lower well-being and was moderated by participation in social activities and level of education attainment. The effect of grandchild care on well-being of grandparents depends on whether it is provided by choice or obligation.