Grandmothers Who Parent Their Grandchildren: An Exploratory Study of Close Relations Across Three Generations

Abstract

Grandparents raising grandchildren is a growing phenomenon born of serious parent difficulties such as drug addiction, child abuse, and neglect. This study focuses on grandmother well-being and the configuration of close relationships across an intergenerational triad consisting of grandmother, parent, and grandchild. Grandmothers who played a linking role in the family and had strong ties to both other generations had greater life satisfaction than grandmothers in most other triad types. Bradburn Affect Balance Scales showed no differences across types. There may be advantages for caregiving grandmothers to have close relationships with both younger generations even when parent-child bonds are weak.