In recent years, increasing numbers of grandparents in the U.S. are living with their grandchildren, and many grandparents are responsible for their care. These trends can be attributed to a number of factors, including increasing numbers of single-parent families, continued high rates of marriage dissolution, parents' incarceration, parental…

Purpose: Transitions in caregiving, such as becoming a primary caregiver to grandchildren or having adult children and grandchildren move in or out, may affect the well-being of the grandmother. Design and Methods: This report describes caregiving patterns at 3 time points over 24 months in a sample of 485 Ohio grandmothers and examines the…

There has been a steady increase in the United States in recent decades of grandparents raising their grandchildren. The aim of this study was to determine if depression levels of grandparents raising their grandchildren and depression levels of traditional grandparents differ. Additionally, the extent of the relationship to depression scores by…

Sources of support and quality of life of 50 grandmother-headed families raising grandchildren with and without disabilities were examined. Comparative analyses revealed significant differences between grandmothers raising grandchildren with and without disabilities in regard to sources of support and family quality of life. Informal support was…

This systematic, objective comparison of typical (spouse, children) and atypical (in-law, sibling, nephew/niece, grandchild) dementia family caregivers examined demographic, caregiving and clinical variables. Analysis was of 1,476 caregivers, of whom 125 were atypical, from the Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer's Caregivers Health (REACH I and II)…

Relationships between grandparents and grandchildren provide an excellent framework for integrating family theory and family methodology. Systematic differences as a function of age, gender, life expectancy, and health as played out through generations suggest some topics are best studied by disentangling variability between and within families.…

An adaptation of the Family Stress Model (FSM) with hypothesized linkages between family contextual factors, custodial grandmothers' psychological distress, parenting practices, and grandchildren's adjustment was tested with structural equation modeling. Interview data from 733 custodial grandmothers of grandchildren between ages 4-17 revealed…

The HIV/AIDS pandemic in sub-Saharan Africa has brought renewed attention to the role of grandmothers as caregivers of children. Using 2004 Lesotho Demographic and Health Survey data, the authors examine the relationship between coresidence with a grandmother and child schooling in Lesotho, a country with one of the highest rates of HIV infection.…

Using cross-sectional data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N = 1,231), this study examines the relationship between grandchildren and their grandparents across early adulthood. Age is used as a proxy for change during the grandchild's life course and the influence of major life course characteristics is examined. Results indicate that…

This study draws data from the Family Life Project to examine parenting behaviors observed for 105 mothers and grandmothers raising an infant in rural low-income multigenerational households. Multilevel models are used to examine the relationships between maternal age and psychological distress and parenting of the infant by both generations. The…

Purpose: Valuation of life (VOL) represents a construct capturing active attachment to life put forward by M. P. Lawton (e.g., 1999). As old and very old individuals may differ in terms of endorsement and with respect to what makes a life worth living, the present study investigated whether mean levels and the explanatory value of…

To investigate a cognitive-developmental explanation of attachments between grandparents and grandchildren, three groups of grandchildren (mean ages 4.6, 9.3 and 19.2 years) were studied. (Author/MP)

Recognizing that children today will spend almost half of their lives as grandparents, this paper examines grandparenthood and the grandparent-grandchild relationship. The paper focuses on the grandparent role, discussing styles and dimensions of grandparenting. A number of variables are discussed directly affecting grandparenting: (1) age of…

This paper examines the growing demographic phenomenon of grandparent-adult grandchild relationships from the perspectives of both generations. Drawing on qualitative life-history interviews (n = 37), this research explores the subjective meanings of the relationship, as well as the experiences of being grandparents and adult grandchildren.…

This book explores grandparenting at a time when roles and challenges facing grandparents are changing. Chapter one addresses "Grandparents in a Changing World" and describes grandparenting styles. Chapter two focuses on the "Unfinished Business between Adult Children and their Parents" and how a grandchild complicates this…