Showing papers on "Grandparent published in 2007"

Transgenerational response to nutrition, early life circumstances and longevity

Abstract: Nutrition might induce, at some loci, epigenetic or other changes that could be transmitted to the next generation impacting on health. The slow growth period (SGP) before the prepubertal peak in growth velocity has emerged as a sensitive period where different food availability is followed by different transgenerational response (TGR). The aim of this study is to investigate to what extent the probands own childhood circumstances are in fact the determinants of the findings. In the analysis, data from three random samples, comprising 271 probands and their 1626 parents and grandparents, left after exclusions because of missing data, were utilized. The availability of food during any given year was classified based on regional statistics. The ancestors' SGP was set at the ages of 8-12 years and the availability of food during these years classified as good, intermediate or poor. The probands' childhood circumstances were defined by the father's ownership of land, the number of siblings and order in the sibship, the death of parents and the parents' level of literacy. An earlier finding of a sex-specific influence from the ancestors' nutrition during the SGP, going from the paternal grandmother to the female proband and from the paternal grandfather to the male proband, was confirmed. In addition, a response from father to son emerged when childhood social circumstances of the son were accounted for. Early social circumstances influenced longevity for the male proband. TGRs to ancestors' nutrition prevailed as the main influence on longevity.

All in the Family: The Impact of Caring for Grandchildren on Grandparents' Health

Abstract: Objectives. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of caring for grandchildren on health behaviors and mental and physical health among older adults. Methods. Using a sample of 12,872 grandparents aged 50 through 80 from the Health and Retirement Study, we examined the relationship between stability and change in various types of grandchild care and subsequent health, controlling for covariates and earlier health. Results. We found no evidence to suggest that caring for grandchildren has dramatic and widespread negative effects on grandparents’ health and health behavior. We found limited evidence that grandmothers caring for grandchildren in skipped-generation households are more likely to experience negative changes in health behavior, depression, and selfrated health. We also found some evidence of benefits to grandmothers who babysit. Discussion. Our findings suggest that the health disadvantages found previously among grandparent caregivers arise from grandparents’ prior characteristics, not as a consequence of providing care. Health declines as a consequence of grandchild care appear to be the exception rather than the rule. These findings are important given continuing reliance on grandparents for day care and increasing reliance on grandparents for custodial care. However, the findings should be tempered by the recognition that for a minority of grandparents, coresidential grandchild care may compromise health.

Family Ties After Divorce: Long‐Term Implications for Children

Abstract: Drawing on the data from the longitudinal Binuclear Family Study, 173 grown children were interviewed 20 years after their parents' divorce. This article addresses two basic questions: (1) What impact does the relationship between parents have on their children 20 years after the divorce? and (2) When a parent remarries or cohabits, how does it impact a child's sense of family? The findings show that the parental subsystem continues to impact the binuclear family 20 years after marital disruption by exerting a strong influence on the quality of relationships within the family system. Children who reported that their parents were cooperative also reported better relationships with their parents, grandparents, stepparents, and siblings. Over the course of 20 years, most of the children experienced the remarriage of one or both parents, and one third of this sample remembered the remarriage as more stressful than the divorce. Of those who experienced the remarriage of both of their parents, two thirds reported that their father's remarriage was more stressful than their mother's. When children's relationships with their fathers deteriorated after divorce, their relationships with their paternal grandparents, stepmother, and stepsiblings were distant, negative, or nonexistent. Whether family relationships remain stable, improve, or get worse is dependent on a complex interweaving of many factors. Considering the long-term implications of divorce, the need to emphasize life course and family system perspectives is underscored.

Children and Power in Mexican Transnational Families

Abstract: Today, many families find that they are unable to fulfill the goal of maintaining a household by living together under the same roof. Some members migrate internationally. This article addresses the consequences of a transnational lifestyle for children who are left behind by migrant parents. Using ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with a total of 141 members of Mexican transnational families, I explore how children who are left behind react to parents' migrations. I focus on how Mexican children manifest the competing pressures they feel surrounding parents' migrations and consequently shape family migration patterns. The article shows that children may experience power, albeit in different ways at different ages, while simultaneously being disadvantaged as dependents and in terms of their families' socioeconomic status. Key Words: children, family, Mexico, parent-child relations, transnationalism. Today, many families find that they are not able to fulfill the common goal of maintaining a household by living together under the same roof. By diversifying the residence of family members, families are able to take advantage of the disparities in the world economy. Able-bodied sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, mothers, and fathers move to areas where they can earn more for their human labor, whereas other family members remain in areas where the cost of living is low. Families move transnationally (Bryceson & Vuorela, 2002; Schmalzbauer, 2004). Although the international separation of families is not a new phenomenon (Foner, 2000; Nakano Glenn, 1983; Thomas & Znaniecki, 1927), one type of transnational family, mat in which mothers leave their children behind to work abroad, is increasingly common causing a plethora of new research focusing on the fives of these transnational families (Dreby, 2006; Hirsch, 2003; Hondagneu-Sotelo & Avila, 1997; Salazar Parrenas, 2005). This article addresses some of the consequences of the transnational lifestyle for children who are left behind by migrant parents. Using ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with a total of 141 members of Mexican transnational families, I explore how children who are left behind react to their parents' migrations. The overall study is based on interviews with migrant mothers and fathers residing in Central New Jersey, and children and their caregivers, most often grandparents, residing in the Mixtec region of south central Mexico. It analyzes the ways that members of transnational families accommodate changes in each other's lives over time. Here, I focus on how children who are left behind manifest the competing pressures they feel surrounding their parents' migrations and consequently shape families' migration patterns. Background Over the past 20 years, an emerging area of research on childhood has focused on understanding children as autonomous actors creating their own social worlds as distinct from and in dynamic relationship to those of the adults in their lives (Corsaro, 1997; Wrigley & Dreby, 2005). According to Qvortrup (1999), the new sociology of childhood has been relatively divorced from traditional, structural approaches to understanding children's fives, which emphasize the economic and political inequalities children experience in different societies. Primarily, ethnographic studies of children's social worlds have not been successful in describing how children's power, or lack of power, in their families and in other institutions relates to their families' relative position in the society in which they live (Wrigley & Dreby). In this article, I consider the power of children left behind in transnational families in relation to their families' social position as transnational migrants. I explore how children in Mexican transnational families are, on the one hand, the least powerful actors within their families, but on the other hand, very influential, both as intended recipients of the benefits their families gamer via international migration and as independent agents with divergent needs that are intensified by the separation from parents. …

Relationships with Grandparents and the Emotional Well-Being of Late Adolescent and Young Adult Grandchildren

Abstract: We investigated whether and under what family conditions young adult grandchildren psychologically benefit from having close and supportive grandparent relations. Relying on parental absence and family systems perspectives, we hypothesized that grandparents will be most effective in reducing depressive symptoms and increasing self-esteem of grandchildren who were raised in single-parent and step-parent families, as well as those with poorer quality relations with their parents. We analyzed data from a sample of grandchildren aged 18–23 years who were surveyed in the 1992–1994 wave of the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 925). Hierarchical multiple regressions with interaction terms found that greater cohesion with grandparents decreased depressive symptoms, particularly among grandchildren raised in single-parent families. However, cohesive grandparent relations reduced depressive symptoms more in the presence of stronger ties to parents. The model partially supports the long reach of grandparents as compensatory resources for mature grandchildren whose families of origin were absent a parent. Implications for future research on the role of grandparents in family systems are discussed.

Risk of Psychological Difficulties Among Children Raised by Custodial Grandparents

Abstract: Although increasing numbers of grandparents are becoming surrogate parents to grandchildren (1), little is known about how custodial grandchildren fare in these families. Yet there are two major reasons why custodial grandchildren may encounter greater risk of behavioral and emotional difficulties than children in general. One reason is that custodial grandchildren typically receive care from grandparents because of such predicaments among their parents as substance abuse, child abuse and neglect, teenage pregnancy, death, illness, divorce, incarceration, and HIV-AIDS (2). Such predicaments bear numerous risks of psychopathology among custodial grandchildren, including exposure to prenatal toxins, early childhood trauma, insufficient interaction with parents, family conflict, uncertainty about the future, and societal stigma (3,4). Another reason why custodial grandchildren may experience higher risk of emotional and behavioral difficulties concerns the numerous challenges that grandparents face as caregivers. For many this role is developmentally off time, unplanned, ambiguous, and undertaken with considerable ambivalence (5-7). Additional challenges to raising custodial grandchildren include inadequate support, social stigma, isolation, disrupted leisure and retirement plans, age-related adversities, anger toward grandchildren’s parents, and financial strain (8-10). Thus custodial grandparents typically show elevated rates of anxiety, irritability, anger, and guilt (11-15). Such heightened psychological strain among parental figures is troubling because abundant research shows that psychological distress is associated with increased dysfunctional parenting, which, in turn, negatively affects children’s psychological well-being (16). Recently, it was found that psychological distress among custodial grandmothers results in lower-quality parenting, which ultimately leads to higher maladjustment of custodial grandchildren (17). Despite these speculations that custodial grandchildren may experience greater mental health difficulties than children in general, scant research has examined the well-being of custodial grandchildren in comparison with other children. A handful of studies, however, provide preliminary evidence that custodial grandchildren do face higher risk. For instance, Ghuman and colleagues (18) found that 22% of 233 youths attending an inner-city community mental health center for treatment of psychological difficulties were cared for by grandparents. Although this rate was disproportionately higher than the 6% of all children living in a grandparent’s household (19), generalizability of these findings is unknown because the sample was restricted to custodial grandchildren from a single clinic. Further evidence of increased risk of psychological difficulties among custodial grandchildren comes from studies of children who receive kinship care. Dubowitz and colleagues (20-23) reported studies showing that children under kinship care have more behavioral, emotional, and school-related problems than children in general. Billing and colleagues (24) analyzed data from the 1997 and 1999 rounds of the National Survey of America’s Families and found that children under age 18 living with relatives fared worse than children living with biological parents on most measures of behavioral, emotional, and physical well-being. They also found that children in care of relatives were more likely to have caregivers with symptoms of poor mental health themselves. Using a nationally representative sample of middle-school children from the 1988 National Education Longitudinal Study, Sun (25) compared the educational, psychological, and behavioral outcomes of children in non–biological-parent families with outcomes of children in households containing two biological parents, a single mother, a stepmother, or a stepfather. According to Sun, non–biological-parent households were found to provide a less favorable family environment for children to live in, as shown by the shortage of parental functions and resources in these households that were associated with lower levels of well-being among children. Because none of the studies reviewed above differentiated children raised by grandparents from children raised by other relatives, the applicability of their findings in regard to custodial grandchildren remains unknown. In the only published national study focused on custodial grandchildren, Solomon and Marx (26) used secondary data from the 1988 National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) to address how custodial grandchildren compare with children from traditional and other types of alternative family (single-parent and blended families) on health and school-adjustment indicators. Caregivers were asked about their perceptions of children in their care. Children from traditional nuclear families were perceived as being better students and less likely to repeat a grade compared with custodial grandchildren, whereas children raised in families with one biological parent did not perform any better on these indicators than custodial grandchildren. Children from traditional families were not better behaved at school than custodial grandchildren, and children from families with one biological parent were more likely than custodial grandchildren to experience school-related behavioral problems. Solomon and Marx also examined indices of physical health status and found that custodial grandchildren fared quite well relative to children in all other family structures. On the basis of overall findings, the authors concluded that “children being raised solely by grandparents appear to be relatively healthy and well-adjusted.” However, a major limitation of their investigation is that an established measure of children’s psychological adjustment was unavailable in the 1988 NHIS data set.

Grandparents raising grandchildren: stressors, social support, and health outcomes.

Abstract: The major purpose of this study was to identify predictors of grandparent caregiver health status. Additional purposes were to describe the physical and emotional health of grandparent caregivers and the perceived benefits of support group attendance. A convenience sample of 42 grandparents was recruited from support groups. Data were collected through telephone interviews. Grandparents who had higher parenting stress reported lower levels of physical, social, and mental health. Inverse correlations were present between life stress and mental health. Positive correlations were found between social support and physical health. No pattern emerged in a comparison of the health of caregiving grandparents and a normative sample. Emotional support was the primary benefit derived from support group attendance. There were modest inverse associations between the length of time the child had lived with the grandparent and six of the eight indicators of grandparent health.

Children's traditional ecological knowledge of wild food resources: a case study in a rural village in Northeast Thailand

Abstract: Consuming wild foods is part of the food ways of people in many societies, including farming populations throughout the world. Knowledge of non-domesticated food resources is part of traditional and tacit ecological knowledge, and is largely transmitted through socialization within cultural and household contexts. The context of this study, a small village in Northeast Thailand, is one where the community has experienced changes due to the migration of the parental generation, with the children being left behind in the village to be raised by their grandparents. A case study approach was used in order to gain holistic in-depth insight into children's traditional ecological knowledge as well as patterns of how children acquire their knowledge regarding wild food resources. Techniques used during field data collection are free-listing conducted with 30 village children and the use of a sub-sample of children for more in-depth research. For the sub-sample part of the study, wild food items consisted of a selection of 20 wild food species consisting of 10 species of plants and 10 species of animals. Semi-structured interviews with photo identification, informal interviews and participatory observation were utilized, and both theoretical and practical knowledge scored. The sub-sample covers eight households with boys and girls aged between 10–12 years old from both migrant families and non-migrant families. The knowledge of children was compared and the transmission process was observed. The result of our study shows that there is no observable difference among children who are being raised by grandparents and those being raised by their parents, as there are different channels of knowledge transmission to be taken into consideration, particularly grandparents and peers. The basic ability (knowledge) for naming wild food species remains among village children. However, the practical in-depth knowledge, especially about wild food plants, shows some potential eroding.

Which children receive grandparental care and what effect does it have

Abstract: Background: Grandparents are increasingly involved in the care of young children, but little is known about factors associated with this type of care, or its implications for children's behavioural development. Methods: We used information collected from 8752 families in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) on grandparent involvement when the study children were aged 8, 15 and 24 months; potential maternal and family predictors of grandparent care; and behavioural outcomes at age 4 years. Results: Forty-four percent of children were regularly cared for by grandparents at each age. Throughout the sample, key correlates of grandparent care were maternal age and education. In families without access to paid help with childcare, the child's ordinal position, maternal employment, the mother's recall of parenting by her own mother and the reasons for choosing the type of childcare were also associated with variations in grandparent care. Grandparent care was associated with some elevated rates of hyperactivity and peer difficulties at age 4, but these were largely attributable to variations in the types of families using grandparent care. Conclusions: The popular belief that the extended family is no longer an important part of British life is not borne out by this study. Grandparents played a significant role in the care of their young grandchildren. The modest behavioural sequelae of extensive grandparental care differ from those reported for group-based day care.

Patterns of intergenerational support in grandparent-grandchild and parent-child relationships in Germany

Abstract: The paper focuses on intergenerational support relations between grandparents and their grandchildren in Germany, and how they have changed from 1996 to 2002. The paper begins with a brief review of the literature on functional aspects of the grandparent-grandchild relationship, after which the research hypotheses about intergenerational support in the relationship are elaborated. Following a description of the data source, the German Ageing Survey, and its samples and measures, the evidence on the patterns of grandparents’ provision and receipt of intergenerational support to and from their grandchildren are presented and compared with parent-child support patterns. The analysis also considers variations by age groups and birth cohorts and changes over time. The main empirical finding is that there was a greater likelihood of financial transfers to grandchildren in 2002 than six years earlier. Nevertheless, the grandparents’ relationships with their grandchildren remained imbalanced or asymmetrical, at the older generation’s expense. It was found that financial and instrumental support patterns between grandparents and grandchildren were best explained using an ‘intergenerational stake ’ hypothesis rather than one of ‘ intergenerational solidarity’ ; the latter is more consistent with parent-child support patterns.

Families, economies, cultures, and science achievement in 41 countries: country-, school-, and student-level analyses.

Abstract: This study examines the links between students' families and science achievement across many countries. Science tests and questionnaire responses of 107,834 fifteen-year-olds in 41 countries were analyzed with multilevel analyses. Students had higher science scores if they were native born, lived with two parents, lived without grandparents, lived with fewer siblings (especially older ones), had more educational resources, had more family involvement, lived in wealthier countries, or lived in countries with more equal distributions of household income. In wealthier countries, family involvement, blended families, and number of siblings showed stronger links to science scores. Science achievement was more strongly linked to family socioeconomic status (SES) and educational resources in more egalitarian cultures and to single parents, family SES, resident grandparents, and birth order in more individualistic cultures. Hence, family constructs were linked to academic achievement in all 41 countries, and the links were stronger in more economically and culturally developed countries.

intergenerational learning between children and grandparents in east London

Abstract: The study set out to investigate learning events taking place between young children and grandparents in London's East End, both in activities where older people have traditionally provided support (such as storytelling) and in the newer areas of information and communication technology where children have competences which their grandparents would like to access. This area of family learning is growing in significance as grandparents are increasingly taking on a childcare role in different extended family structures. Grandparents’ own learning needs must also be taken into account in the government’s lifelong learning agenda.

Ambivalence and the paradoxes of grandparenting

Abstract: This paper focuses on ‘normative talk’ about grandparenting. It is based on a secondary analysis of a study involving 46 interviews with grandparents. It identifies two main cultural norms of grandparenting that emerged from the data – ‘being there’ and ‘not interfering’. There were very high levels of consensus in the study that these constituted what grandparents ‘should and should not’ do. However, these two norms can be contradictory, and are not easy to reconcile with the everyday realities of grandparenting. The study found that norms of parenting and also of self determination were also very important for the grandparents in the study. They had a keen sense of what being a ‘good parent’ (to their own adult children) should mean – especially in terms of allowing them to be independent – but this could sometimes conflict with their sense of responsibility to descendant generations of grandchildren. Using the concept of ambivalence and drawing on the accounts of grandparents in the study, the paper ex...

Grandparents' psychological well-being after loss of contact with their grandchildren.

Abstract: This study examined how loss of contact with grandchildren due to parental separation or divorce, family feud, or a sudden event, such as relocation, affected the emotional well-being of grandparents (N = 442). Using data from the Longitudinal Study of Generations, the depressive symptoms of grandparents were tracked over 15 years. Growth curve analysis was used to compare grandparents who had lost contact with their grandchildren with those who had not and to examine preloss to postloss change in depressive symptoms. Grandparents who lost contact with their grandchildren experienced a steeper increase in depressive symptoms as they aged compared with other grandparents. Depressive symptoms of grandparents who lost contact because of a sudden event increased up to 3 years following the loss but returned to equilibrium thereafter. The authors conclude that grandparents who lost contact with their grandchildren experienced a negative impact on their emotional health.

The Influence of Grandparents in Single-Mother Families.

Abstract: 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 increased cognitive stimulation and higher reading recognition scores, compared to living with a single mother alone. For Black children, grandparent coresidence is associated with less cognitive stimulation. Thus, in some instances, living with a grandparent can benefit children, but the pattern of results differs by race. Key Words: children, family structure, grandparents, race, single parent. Considerable policy and research attention has examined the role of marriage in the lives of adults and children. In particular, policy activity associated with welfare reform has been influenced by research evidence (McLanahan & Sandefur, 1994; Waite & Gallagher, 2000), executive priorities, and popular opinion that a married family setting benefits children and the families in which they live, and that living with a single parent is harmful for children. All single-parent households are not alike, however. In particular, 13% of children living with a single parent also have a grandparent in the household (U.S. Census Bureau, 2005). It is currently not known whether living with a grandparent benefits these children, and whether such children fare as well as those living with married parents or whether they are more similar to children of single mothers living alone. The goal of this study is to examine these issues, focusing on the development of children living with a single mother and a grandparent. Understanding the role of grandparents in single-mother families is important at a time when federal expenditures on programs designed to promote marriage are on the rise (Dion, 2005). Such programs are based on the assumption that living with two married parents is better for children than living with a single mother. The results from this study will allow us to understand whether this assumption holds for the substantial subgroup of children who live with a single mother and a grandparent, thereby informing policy activity in this area. Using data from the 1979 to 2002 waves of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth (NLSY) merged mother-child file, we examine children living in three-generation households and evaluate differences in outcomes between these children and those living with a single mother alone, and those living with married parents, using lifetime measures capturing the total number of years a child has lived in various family structures. All analyses are performed separately by race and also address issues of potential bias from omitted variables. To measure child functioning, we focus on three measures of children's cognitive achievement, as well as a measure of the amount of cognitive stimulation provided in the home. We examine test scores because they are relatively objective; specifically, each child is administered an identical assessment, and differences across children are attributable solely to the child's ability to complete the assessment. In contrast, measures such as behavior problems rely on maternal reports and therefore could be influenced by mothers' emotional well-being, parenting styles, or other factors that may also be related to children's living arrangements. Additionally, test scores provide an important measure of child development that is closely linked to future educational and eventual occupational success. We include in our analysis the measure of cognitive stimulation in order to examine if the provision of cognitive stimulation in the home differs across family living arrangements, and whether it accounts for any associations between family structure and children's test scores. Other research has noted that grandparent residence may result in less positive parenting (e. …

Grandparent—Grandchild Ties Reflections on Continuity and Change Across Three Generations

Abstract: Within the context of social, demographic, and historical change and informed by a life course perspective, this article examines patterns of relating between grandparents and grandchildren within families across and within generations Using qualitative data from a study of 10 multigenerational families (N = 86), the analysis assesses continuity and change in grandparent—grandchild ties across three generations of adults Although findings reveal change in social and family circumstances over time, half the families experienced considerable continuity in grandparent—grandchild ties and whether close or distant, were characterized by distinct grand cultures In the remaining families, different configurations of individual, family-related, and social factors led to intra- and intergenerational variations Divorce and remarriage influenced grandparent—grandchild relationships in most families, yielding highly variable outcomes Ultimately, the study families' experiences demonstrate how social, historical,

Communicative Predictors of a Shared Family Identity: Comparison of Grandchildren's Perceptions of Family-of-Origin Grandparents and Stepgrandparents∗

Abstract: From an intergroup perspective on family relationships, the current study investigates family-of-origin grandparents and stepgrandparents to determine similarities and differences in communication and relational dimensions. Participants (N = 88) completed questionnaires on family-of-origin grandparents and stepgrandparent relationships. From the perspective of young adult grandchildren, the research explores the role of supportive communication, reciprocal self-disclosure, nonaccommodative communication, and parental encouragement in predicting a sense of shared family identity with each grandparent type. Results are discussed in terms of implications for intergroup research, grandparent-grandchild communication, and stepfamily relationships.

Golden Years? The Labor Market Effects of Caring for Grandchildren

Abstract: The number of Americans raising grandchildren has been rising steadily. In this article, we expand what is known by focusing on the economic implications of this trend. We compile a unique data set from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics along with its Parent Identification File on 3,240 nonretired grandparent household heads and estimate the effect of taking in a grandchild on labor force participation and hours worked. We estimate models that distinguish between grandparents living alone from those only with grandchildren (skippedgeneration households) and those also with their own children (3-generation households). We find that caring for grandchildren increases labor force attachment, with grandfathers more likely to work and grandmothers working longer, if another adult is available to supervise the grandchildren. It is well known that the structure of households in the United States has been undergoing dramatic changes. Many of these have led to important changes in children’s living arrangements.

The Transmission of Religious Beliefs across Generations: Do Grandparents Matter?*

Abstract: Despite substantial changes in the family’s structure over the past four decades, parents continue to exert a lasting imprint on the religious ideology and commitments of their children. However, r...

Research Review: The role of grandparents in intergenerational support for families with disabled children: a review of the literature

Abstract: The family in late modernity faces demographic change. However, it is still apparent that intergenerational relationships and exchanges of resources are valued. There is a growing literature on the important role that grandparents play in their children’s families. In contrast, there is limited research exploring the support grandparents provide to families with disabled children. This is an important gap in our knowledge, as families with disabled children frequently face additional caring responsibilities and emotional demands. From the studies that do exist, it is clear that grandparents’ support to families with disabled children is generally valued. However, the literature remains partial: past studies are small-scale, focused upon parents’ perceptions of support (especially mother’s), and frequently based upon North American data. Recognizing these limitations and the fact that grandparents themselves have support needs which require consideration, this paper identifies key areas where important issues remain unanswered and further research is required. It argues that research is needed to begin untangling the different support needs of parents, grandparents and other family members, and the different effects of grandparent support that different family members’ experience. Exploration of grandparents’ own support needs also indicates the need for wider policy and service consideration.

Grandmothers' Involvement Among Young Adolescents Growing Up in Poverty

Abstract: Grandmothers often play an important role in low-income minority families through providing support to their adult children as well as care to their grandchildren. However, little is known about how varying types of grandmother involvement may influence their grandchildren's functioning. This paper uses data from Welfare, Children, and Families: A Three-City Study, a longitudinal study sampling low-income minority youth from high-poverty neighborhoods, to explore how young adolescents (age 10–14 years at Time 1) function over time based on grandmothers' residential status and their level of caretaking responsibility. Analyses find that young adolescents with a custodial grandmother displayed greater levels of externalizing problem behaviors over time while young adolescents with a co-residing grandmother reported fewer depressive symptoms over time as compared with their peers. The importance of considering the influence of grandmothers who are more involved, especially among low-income, minority families, in research and practice will be discussed.

Biological Basics and the Economics of the Family

Abstract: Many economic models of the family are based on a generic “person one/person two” household or “parent– child” family, rather than their anatomically correct counterparts: sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, and grandfathers and grandmothers. These economic models can offer powerful insights into family behavior, but also can leave certain patterns unexplained and neglect potentially important crosscurrents. Melding biological insights with family economics can cast new light on existing knowledge and open up novel paths for research. For example, study after study has found that putting family income in the hands of mothers, rather than fathers, tends to increase the consumption of children, as noted in this journal in Lundberg and Pollak (1996). Yet the way such results are usually described might strike a noneconomist as exceedingly circumspect. Economists point out that these findings reject the “common preference” model of household decision making in favor of one with “independent decisionmaking spouses”— but usually make little mention of motherhood or fatherhood per se. Or consider the dramatic expansion of South African government pension programs in the early 1990s, which put lots of extra money in the hands of grandparents, many of whom lived with their grandchildren. In a compelling and oft-cited study, Duflo (2003) found evidence of pension spillovers to grandchildren. But the most intriguing patterns were demographic: pensions to maternal grandmothers redounded to the benefit of granddaughters. Economic analysis uncovers the income effects but turns out to be of little help for explaining why these particular gender effects predominated.

Embryo donation families: mothers' decisions regarding disclosure of donor conception

Abstract: BACKGROUND: Previous data suggest that parents who adopt a child tend to support full disclosure while donor conception families prefer to keep the method of conception relatively private. It is not known whether parents in embryo donation families will tend towards the adoption model, therefore, we studied families with a child conceived using donated embryos. METHODS: A total of 21 embryo donation families with a child aged 2–5 years were recruited through UK fertility clinics. Mothers were administered a standardized semi-structured interview, obtaining data on the extent of their disclosure to children and other family members and their reasons for this decision. RESULTS: At the time of interview, 9% of mothers had told their child how they had conceived; 24% of mothers reported that they were planning to tell the child in future; 43% had decided that they would never tell the child, and the remaining 24% were undecided. However, nearly three-quarter of mothers (72%) had disclosed to other family members. Maternal grandparents were more likely to have been told than paternal grandparents ( P< 0.025). Reasons cited for non-disclosure to the child included the desire to protect the child, the belief that disclosure is unnecessary, and the concern that family relationships would be damaged. Reasons in favour of disclosure included the desire to avoid accidental disclosure and the belief that the child has the right to know. CONCLUSIONS: Embryo donation mothers were similar to parents of donor insemination and oocyte donation children in their attitudes towards disclosure of donor conception.

Maternal Grandmothers Do Go the Extra Mile: Factoring Distance and Lineage into Differential Contact with Grandchildren:

Abstract: Several studies conducted from an evolutionary perspective have documented differential investment in grandchildren by lineage. The majority of these studies have used retrospective ratings by grandchildren, but only a fraction of these studies have examined actual grandparental behavior. Here we focus on the interaction between distance and lineage on face-to-face contact with a (random) grandchild in a large scale sample. Our main prediction is that maternal grandparents are significantly more willing to travel in order to see their grandchild. While controlling for initiative of contact, urbanization, sex and age of the grandchild, educational attainment, marital status and age we found a significant interaction between distance and grandparent type on frequency of contact with a grandchild. Maternal grandmothers were significantly more inclined than paternal grandfathers and grandmothers to maintain frequent face-to-face contact, as distance between grandparent and grandchild increased. The results are discussed with reference to evolutionary theories of grandparental investment.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: A Response to a Nutrition and Physical Activity Intervention

Abstract: This pilot study explored the impact of an educational program on nutrition and physical activity knowledge of urban African-American grandparents raising their grandchildren. The program was integrated into a community-based intervention, Project Healthy Grandparents, and was implemented during the first 15 minutes of 10 grandparent support groups and parenting classes. Subjects included 22 grandparents who attended at least six sessions and completed pre- and posttests of nutrition and physical activity knowledge. Participants' posttest scores were significantly higher than their pretest scores ( P

Grandparents of Children with Autism: A Review with Recommendations for Education, Practice, and Policy

Abstract: One in 166 grandparents will become grandparent to a child with autism. A review of empirical studies suggests that these grandparents experience significant role confusion. They provide the autistic child's parents—who are more likely to be depressed, single, or divorced—with both burden (e.g., conflict regarding behavioral symptoms) and emotional and instrumental support (e.g., childcare; financial assistance; advocacy). Unique stressors of autism upon families include social isolation and financial burden. Custodial grandparents face additional stressors. Opportunities for education, practice, and policy that are designed to help grandparents redefine their role, share in the diagnosis and treatment of autism, and obtain social support are advanced.

Communication between Grandparents and Grandchildren in Geographically Separated Relationships

Abstract: This study examined grandparents' reports of their use of three media—face-to-face, telephone, and email—in geographically separated relationships with grandchildren. Grandparents used telephone and email more frequently than face-to-face communication. There were no sex differences in frequency and satisfaction with the three media. Email use was examined in depth due to the dearth of research on its use. Grandparents who reported that they and their grandchildren were equally likely to initiate email were more satisfied with its frequency and quality than those who reported primary responsibility for email communication. Satisfaction with telephone communication predicted relational quality.