This study examined whether past grandparental child care is related to present support from adult children. On the basis of social exchange theory, the authors expected that grandparental child care creates a debt that is repaid in the form of receiving support later in life. Using data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (N = 349…

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (N = 2,656), we examined the association between intergenerational relationships and parents' union stability 5 years after a baby's birth. Results showed that more amiable relationships between parents and each partner's parents, and children's spending more time with paternal…

Cross-sectional and repeated surveys from household components of Demographic and Health Surveys in sub-Saharan Africa were examined to determine whether household composition indicators for older adults (N = 52,573), involving offspring and grandchildren, correlated with national levels of AIDS mortality. One in 4 was living with a grandchild…

Children from alternative households complete fewer years of schooling. Yet little is known about the implications of coresidence with grandparents for educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,083), this study found that extended households with two biological parents were not detrimental…

This study examines whether both parents' relationships with their offspring, parents, and parents-in-law matter for young adults' perceptions of closeness to grandparents. This study focuses on two groups of grandchildren (ages 18-23) in Wave 2 of the National Survey of Families and Households: young adults with married biological parents (N =…

Guided by the Common Ingroup Identity Model (S. L. Gaertner & J. F. Dovidio, 2000) and Communication Accommodation Theory (C. Shepard, H. Giles, & B. A. LePoire, 2001), we examined the role of identity accommodation, supportive communication, and self-disclosure in predicting relational satisfaction, shared family identity, and group salience in…

Routine child care by grandparents was examined for 1,229 children who were participants in the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) Study of Early Child Care. Findings suggest that grandparent care, whether part- or extended full-time, is heterogeneous and may occur in response to different family circumstances.…

Assesses the implications of divorce in the grandparent generation for grandparent-grandchild relationships. Results indicate that many aspects of grandparenting are negatively associated with ever experiencing a divorce. Some of the negative effects of divorce are explained by ever-divorced grandparents' greater geographic distance from, and…

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…

This article examines whether children living with single mothers benefit when they also live with a grandparent, using data from the 1979 to 2002 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth merged mother-child file (N = 6,501). Results indicate that for White children, living with a single mother and a grandparent is associated with…

Explores how relations between grandparents and grandchildren are contingent upon a matrix of intergenerational relationships. Findings indicated multiple dimensions of grandparents' involvement with grandchildren to be associated with grandparents relationship with their own grandparents; grandparent's perception of closeness with grandchild; and…

We used data from the study of Marital Instability Over the Life Course to examine links between divorce in the grandparent generation and outcomes in the grandchild generation (N= 691). Divorce in the first (G1) generation was associated with lower education, more marital discord, weaker ties with mothers, and weaker ties with fathers in the…

Study finds that the transition of grandchildren to higher education improves the quality of the grandparent-grandchild relationship. For grandparent mentoring, there is evidence of a generational stake, with grandparents overestimating their mentoring role during this transition. Findings indicate that the intergenerational literature can be…