This study investigates maternal grandmother—grandchild relationship quality as a predictor of psychological adjustment among youth from divorced families. Three hundred twenty-four adolescents aged between 17 and 20 report on the quality of their relationships with their maternal grandmothers and their relational competence, self-efficacy, and psychological symptoms. Structural equation modeling analyses support a model in which participants' relationships with grandmothers predict their psychological adjustment. Family background (divorced vs. intact families) moderates the relationship between relationship quality and adjustment; youth from divorced families indicate that their relationships with their maternal grandmothers are more salient to their adjustment than do youth from intact families. These findings suggest that the bonds young people develop with their maternal grandmothers following their parents' divorce may positively affect their psychological functioning.
Amato, P.R. (2001). Children of divorce in the 1990s: An update of the Amato and Keith (1991) meta-analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 15, 355-370.
2.
Amato, P.R., & Booth, A. (1996). A prospective study of divorce and parent-child relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 58, 356-365.
3.
Amato, P.R., & Cheadle, J. (2005). The long reach of divorce: Divorce and child well-being across three generations. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 191-206.
4.
Amato, P.R., & Keith, B. (1991). Parental divorce and the well-being of children: A meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 110, 26-46.
5.
Amato, P.R., Spencer Loomis, L., & Booth, A. (1995). Parental divorce, marital conflict, and offspring well-being during early adulthood. Social Forces, 73, 895-915.
6.
Armsden, G.C., & Greenberg, M.T. (1987). The Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment: Individual differences and their relationship to psychological well-being in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence , 16, 427-454.
7.
Benoit, D., & Parker, K.C.H. (1994). Stability and transmission of attachment across three generations. Child Development , 65, 1444-1456.
8.
Browne, M.W., & Cudeck, R. (1993). Alternative ways of assessing model fit. In K. A. Bollen & J. S. Long (Eds.), Testing structural models (pp. 136-162). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
9.
Cherlin, A., & Furstenberg, F.F. (1986). The influence of grandparents on grandchildren. In A. Cherlin & F. F. Furstenberg (Eds.), The new American grandparent: A place in the family, a life apart (pp. 165-184). New York: Basic Books.
10.
Cooney, T.M., & Smith, L.A. (1996). Young adults' relations with grandparents following recent parental divorce. Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences , 51B, S91-S95.
11.
Department of Health and Human Services. ( 2005). Births, marriages, divorces, and deaths: Provisional data for 2004. Retrieved June 20, 2005, from http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/nvsr/nvsr53/nvsr53_21.pdf
12.
Derogatis, L.R., Lipman, R.S., Rickels, K., Uhlenhuth, E.H., & Covi, L. (1974). The Hopkins Symptom Checklist: A self-report symptom inventory. Behavioral Science, 19, 1-15.
13.
Derogatis, L.R., Lipman, R.S., & Covi, L. (1973). SCL-90: An outpatient psychiatric rating scale-Preliminary report. Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 9, 13-27.
14.
Derogatis, L.R., & Melisaratos, N. (1983). The Brief Symptom Inventory: An introductory report. Psychological Medicine, 13, 595-605.
15.
Gladstone, J.W. (1988). Perceived changes in grandmother-grandchild relations following a child's separation or divorce. The Gerontologist , 28, 66-72.
16.
Hansson, R.O., Jones, W.H., & Carpenter, B.N. (1984). Relational competence and social support. Review of Personality and Social Psychology , 5, 265-284.
17.
Hayslip, B., Jr., & Goldberg-Glen, R. (Eds.). (2000). Grandparents raising grandchildren. New York: Springer.
18.
Hayslip, B., Henderson, C.E., & Shore, R.J. (2003). The structure of grandparental role meaning. Journal of Adult Development, 10, 1-12.
19.
Hetherington, E.M. (1989). Coping with family transitions: Winners, losers, and survivors. Child Development, 60, 1-14.
20.
Hetherington, E.M., Bridges, M., & Insabella, G.M. (1998). What matters? What does not? Five perspectives on the association between marital transitions and children's adjustment. American Psychologist, 53, 167-184.
21.
Johnson, C.L. (1998). Effects of adult children's divorce on grandparenthood . In M. E. Szinovacz (Ed.), Handbook on grandparenthood (pp. 184-199). Westport, CT: Greenwood.
22.
Kennedy, G.E. (1990). College students' expectations of grandparent and grandchild role behaviors. The Gerontologist, 30, 43-48.
23.
Kennedy, G.E. (1992). Quality in grandparent/grandchild relationships . International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 35, 83-98.
24.
Kennedy, G.E., & Kennedy, C.E. (1993). Grandparents: A special resource for children in stepfamilies. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 19, 45-68.
25.
Kenny, M.E., & Barton, C.E. (2003). Attachment theory and research: Contributions for understanding late adolescent and young adult development. In J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.), Handbook of adult development (pp. 371-390). New York: Kluwer.
26.
Kline, R.B. (1998). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. New York: Guilford.
27.
Lopez, F.G., & Gover, M.R. (1993). Self-report measures of parent-adolescent attachment and separation-dividuation: A selective review. Journal of Counseling & Development, 71, 560-569.
28.
Lussier, G., Deater-Deckard, K., Dunn, J., & Davies, L. (2002). Support across two generations: Children's closeness to grandparents following parental divorce and remarriage. Journal of Family Psychology, 16, 363-376.
29.
MacKinnon, D.P., Lockwood, C.M., & Hoffman, J.M. (2002). A comparison of methods to test mediation and other intervening variable effects. Psychological Methods , 7, 83-104.
30.
Matthews, S.H., & Sprey, J. (1984). The impact of divorce on grandparenthood: An exploratory study. The Gerontologist, 24, 41-47.
31.
Muthén, L., & Muthén, B. (1998-2005). Mplus user's guide [Computer software]. Los Angeles: Muthén & Muthén.
32.
Pearlin, L., Lieberman, M., Menaghan, E., & Mullan, J. (1981). The stress process. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 22, 337-356.
33.
Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
34.
Sherer, M., Maddux, J.E., Mercandante, B., Prentice-Dunn, S., Jacobs, B., & Rogers, R.W. (1982). The Self-Efficacy Scale: Construction and validation . Psychological Reports, 51, 663-671.
35.
Shrout, P.E., & Bolger, N. (2002). Mediation in experimental and nonexperimental studies: New procedures and recommendations. Psychological Methods, 7, 422-445.
36.
Silvia, E.S.M., & MacCallum, R.C. (1988). Some factors affecting the success of specification searches in covariance structure modeling. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 23, 297-326.
37.
Simpson, J.A., Rholes, W.S., & Nelligan, J.S. (1992). Support seeking and support giving within couples in an anxiety-provoking situation: The role of attachment styles. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 62, 434-446.
38.
Uhlenberg, P., & Hammill, B. (1998). Frequency of grandparent contact with grandchild sets: Six factors that make a difference. The Gerontologist , 38, 276-285.
39.
Wallerstein, J.S. (1987). Children of divorce: Report of a ten-year follow-up of early latency-age children. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry , 57, 199-211.
40.
Wallerstein, J.S., & Lewis, J. (1998). The long-term impact of divorce on children: A first report from a 25-year study. Family & Conciliation Courts Review, 36, 368-383.
41.
Woodruff, S.L., & Cashman, J.F. (1993). Task, domain, and general efficacy: A reexamination of the self-efficacy scale. Psychological Reports, 72, 423-432.
