This exploratory study examines grandparenthood as a role relationship. Grandmothers, in describing the transition to grandparenthood, tended to emphasize emotional/symbolic investment in grandchildren rather than instrumental/interactional dimensions of relationships. The data suggest that grandparental role conceptions are modified by family network variable: Ambiguity in the grandmother role is magnified by geographical distance and by paternal (rather than maternal) grandmotherhood.
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