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…

Purpose: To develop and evaluate a series of web-based fact sheets for grandparents raising grandchildren. The fact sheets focus on child development issues that grandparents may face when raising their grandchildren. Design and Methods: The fact sheets were developed using research on attachment theory, child development, and the needs of…

Conducted two qualitative studies of African-American grandparents and great-grandparents rearing their grandchildren as consequence of parental drug addiction. Data from 60 grandmothers, grandfathers, and great-grandmothers revealed that only 3 percent received consistent, reliable familial support as surrogate parents. Although respondents found…

Contrasts the experiences of 398 White and 319 Black grandmothers raising their grandchildren. Similarities include age, education, familial relationship to the grandchild, age of grandchild, and impacts on the grandmother's work life. Differences include marital status, work status, and income. White grandmothers experienced more burden from…

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…

Conducted 40-month longitudinal study following role of grandmothers in 43 families during divorce processes of their children. Found most women provided major assistance to children and grandchildren, with younger grandmothers more active. Analysis of their expectations indicated women became more ambivalent and dissatisfied if they were forced…

Brookdale Grandparent Caregiver Information Project tracked 124 community interventions/service programs for grandparents raising grandchildren. Found that, among programs, lack of funding and institutional support, and the consequent inability to provide child care, were among key obstacles faced, whereas while sponsorship by health and social…

Questioned 80 grandmothers about interaction with grandchildren before and after the divorce of a child. Found that following divorce, grandmothers thought that their contact with grandchildren increased, as did time spent babysitting, teaching family history, and offering advice on personal problems. Geographic proximity and custodial status of…

Utilizes the National Survey of Families and Households to present a demographic profile of grandparents. Examines grandparents' survival, timing of grandparenthood, grandparents' involvement in other roles, surrogate parenting, and stepgrandparents. Data indicate considerable heterogeneity among grandparents of different genders and ethnicities.…

Examined impact of various social relationships on level of loneliness reported by 208 elderly residents of 10 senior housing apartments, controlling for depression. Subjects who were less satisfied with quality of their relationships and had less contact with close friends were more lonely. Whether one had children, grandchildren, siblings, or…

Interviewed 114 grandparents. Found three major grandparent roles: custodial, living with grandchild, and day-care roles. Found that custodial grandparents often obtained that relationship because of severe problems in nuclear family. Day-care grandparents provided regular help to grandchild's nuclear family. Decision to provide care was often…

This research focuses on the significance of grandparenthood to a sample of young adult grandchildren as detailed from their responses to a series of Likert-type, range of choice, and yes-no items in five distinct areas of inquiry. Results show that grandchildren do not see grandparents as old-fashioned. (Author)

Explored physical and emotional health status of 71 African-American grandmothers raising their grandchildren as result of crack cocaine involvement of children's parents. Comparison of self-assessed health ratings with qualitative responses revealed tendency for respondents to downplay their own health problems and symptoms. (Author/NB)