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.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bengtson, V. L. (1991). The longitudinal study of three-generation families: 1991 survey form. Los Angeles: University of Southern California, Andrus Gerontology Center.
2.
Bengtson, V.L. , & Harootyan, R. A. (1994). Generational linkages and implications for public policy. In V. L. Bengtson & R. A. Harootyan (Eds.), Intergenerational linkages: Hidden connections in American society (pp. 210-234). New York: Springer.
3.
Bengtson, V.L. , & Roberts, R.E.L. (1991). Intergenerational solidarity in aging families: An example of formal theory construction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53, 856-870.
4.
Berrick, J. D. , Barth, R. P., & Needell, B. (1994). A comparison of kinship foster homes and foster family homes: Implications for kinship foster care as family preservation. Children and Youth Services Review, 16(1/2), 33-63.
5.
Berrick, J. D. , Needell, B., & Barth, R. P. (1995). Kinship care in California: An empiricallybased curriculum. Berkeley: California Welfare Research Center.
6.
Bradburn, N. M. (1969). The structure of psychological well-being. Chicago: Aldine.
7.
Burton, L. M. (1992). Black grandparents rearing children of drug-addicted parents: Stressors, outcomes, and social service needs. The Gerontologist, 32(6), 744-751.
8.
Casper, L. M. , & Bryson, K. R. (1998, May). Co-resident grandparents and their grandchildren: Grandparent maintained families. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, Chicago.
9.
Chalfie, D. (1994). Going it alone: A closer look at grandparents parenting grandchildren. Washington, DC: American Association of Retired Persons.
10.
Creighton, L. (1991, December 16). Grandparents: The silent saviors. U.S. News and World Report, 80-89.
11.
Crumbley, J. , & Little, R. (1997). Kinship care: Raising relatives' children. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
12.
deToledo, S. , & Brown, D. E. (1995). Grandparents as parents: A survival guide for raising a second family. New York: Guilford.
13.
Diener, E. , & Emmons, R. A. (1984). The independence of positive and negative affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 47, 1105-1117.
14.
Ehrle, G. M. , & Day, H. D. (1994). Adjustment and family functioning of grandmothers rearing their grandchildren. Contemporary Family Therapy, 16(1), 67-82.
15.
Fischer, J. , & Corcoran, K. (1994). Measures for clinical practice: A sourcebook (2nd ed.). New York: Free Press.
16.
Friedman, E. H. (1991). Bowen theory and therapy. In A. S. Gurman & D. P. Knistern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (Vol. 2, pp. 134-170). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
17.
Giarruso, R. , Stallings, M., & Bengtson, V.L. (1995). The intergenerational stake hypothesis revisited: Parent-child differences in perceptions of the relationship 20 years later. In V.L. Bengtson, K. W. Schaie, & L. M. Burton (Eds.), Adult intergenerational relations: Effects of societal change (pp. 227-296). New York: Springer.
18.
Gronvold, R. L. (1988). Measuring affectual solidarity. In D. J. Mangen, V.L. Bengtson, & P. H. Landry (Eds.), Measurement of intergenerational relations (pp. 74-97). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
19.
Guerin, P.J.J. , Fogarty, T.F., Fay, L. F., & Kautto, J. G. (1996). Working with relationship triangles: The one-two-three of psychotherapy. New York: Guilford.
20.
Harden, A. W. , Clark, R. L., & Maguire, K. (1997). Informal and formal kinship care: Volume I: Narrative reports, and Volume II: Tables and figures. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
21.
Jackson, S. , Mathews, J., & Zuskin, R. (1998). Supporting the kinship triad: A training curriculum. Washington, DC: Child Welfare League of America.
22.
Jendrek, M. P. (1994). Grandparents who parent their grandchildren: Circumstances and decisions. The Gerontologist, 34(2), 206-216.
23.
Kerr, M. , & Bowen, M. (1988). Family evaluation. New York: Norton.
24.
Mangen, D. , Bengtson V. L., & Landry, P. H., Jr. (Eds.). (1988). The measurement of intergenerational relations. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
25.
Minkler, M. , & Roe, K. M. (1993). Grandmothers as caregivers: Raising children of the crack cocaine epidemic. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
26.
Moos, R. H. (1990). Conceptual and empirical approaches to developing family-based assessment procedures: Resolving the case of the Family Environment Scale. Family Process, 29, 199-208.
27.
Olson, D. H. , Russell, C., & Sprenkle, D. H. (1983). Circumplex model of marital and family systems: VI. Theoretical update. Family Process, 22, 69-83.
28.
Pitcl, J. (1997). Kinship care in California: The challenges and opportunities facing relatives and the children placed in their care. Sacramento: Children's Research Institute of California and The California Partnership for Children.
29.
Rodgers-Farmer, A. Y. (1999). Parenting stress, depression, and parenting in grandmothers raising their grandchildren. Children and Youth Services Review, 21(5), 377-388.
30.
Saluter, A. F. (1996). Marital status and living arrangements: March 1994. U.S. Bureau of the Census, Current Population Reports (Series P20-484). Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
31.
Shore, R. J. , & Hayslip, B., Jr. (1995). Custodial grandparenting: Implications for children's development. In A. E. Gottfried & A. W. Gottfried (Eds.), Redefining families: Implications for children's development (pp. 171-218). New York: Plenum.
32.
Silverstein, M. , & Bengtson, V. L. (1997). Intergenerational solidarity and the structure of adult child-parent relationships in American families. American Journal of Sociology, 103, 429-460.
33.
Solomon, J. C. , & Marx, J. (1995). “To grandmother's house we go”: Health and school adjustment of children raised solely by grandparents. The Gerontologist, 35(3), 386-394.
34.
Stack, C. (1996). Call to home: African Americans reclaim the rural South. New York: Basic.
35.
Tavitian, M. L. , Lubiner, J., Green, L., Grebstein, L. C., & Velicer, W. F. (1987). Dimensions of family functioning. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 2(2), 191-204.
36.
Veit, C. T. , & Ware, J. E. (1983). The structure of psychological distress and well-being in general populations. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 51(5), 730-742.
37.
Ware, J. (1983, January 5). RAND internal memorandum: How to score the Health Insurance Experiment Mental Health Index and subscales. Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
38.
Whitbeck, L. B. , Hoyt, D. R., & Huck, S. M. (1993). Family relationship history, contemporary parent-grandparent relationship quality, and the grandparent-grandchild relationship. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 55(44), 1025-1035.
