Marital instability and the changing kinship networks of grandparents

The Transition to Grandmotherhood: A Quantitative Study

La plupart des recherches sur les grands-parents ont utilisé une perspective micro-sociale, de type interactif et basée sur la notion de rôle. Comme complément à ce corps de recherche, cet article examine les aspects quantitatifs de la transition vers l'état de grand-mère, dans la perspective du cycle de vie. L'analyse est fondée sur des données rassemblées à partir d'un échantillonnage de 666 femmes, choisies au hasard et nées entre 1905 et 1920. L'enquête téléphonique a été réalisée en 1987–88, à Vancouver et à Victoria. Les résultats démontrent que les variables majeures associées à cette transition vers l'état de grand-mère sont le nombre d'enfants et le niveau d'éducation. Les variations concernant l'âge auquel ces femmes sont devenues grands-mères pour la première fois s'expliquent par l'âge au moment de la première naissance et aussi par une variable relative à l'histoire de vie au travail. La temporalité sociale joue un rôle, mais varie selon le statut de « grand-maternité ”. Les variations dans les préférences relatives au meilleur moment pour devenir grand-parent sont associées à l'âge où les femmes ont expérimenté l'état de grand-mère. Les résultats sont discutés à la lumière de ce qui est généralement admis selon la perspective du cycle de vie et des pistes concernant des recherches à venir sont explorées.

Age and ethnicity differences in storytelling to young children: emotionality, relationality, and socialization

Research has shown that age and ethnicity are associated with individuals' motivations for emotional regulation and social interaction. The authors proposed that these age and ethnicity-related motives would be reflected in storytelling. Women representing 2 age and 2 ethnic groups (young adulthood, oldage, African American, European American) told stories to young girls. Stories were coded for emotional, relational, and socialization focus. They predicted that older adults would selectively emphasize positive over negative emotions and would direct more utterances toward their interaction with their listener. The authors expected that African Americans would be more likely to emphasize socialization themes. Results suggest that older adults positively modulate emotional content while storytelling; qualified support was found for hypotheses concerning socialization and interrelational emphasis.

Support across two generations: children's closeness to grandparents following parental divorce and remarriage

There has been relatively little research on the role of grandparents as a source of support for children during and following their parents' marital transitions. In this study, we examined children's contact with and closeness to grandparents in different family types (i.e., two biological parents, single mother, stepparent). Participants included 155 children from the Avon Brothers and Sisters Study. Parent and child interviews and questionnaires regarding the children's relationships with maternal and paternal biological and stepgrandparents were examined. There were family type differences in rates of contact with grandparents as well as children's closeness to grandparents. Furthermore, children's and parents' view about these relationships with grandparents were modestly correlated, suggesting that children often held different views about their closeness to their grandparents than did their parents. Greater closeness to grandparents was associated with fewer adjustment problems.

Quality in grandparent/grandchild relationships

Five elements identified from the literature as expressive of quality in grandparent/grandchild relationships were used in this study. Three hundred ninety-one young adults at a midwest university responded to questions concerning the quality of their relationships with their "most close" grandparent. Responses of the students validated the following five elements of quality as being associated with successful grandparent/grandchild relationships: 1) a fairly high degree of closeness, 2) a strong sense of being known by the grandparent, 3) a strong sense of the young adult's knowing the grandparent, 4) a sense of the grandparent being a fairly strong influence in the life of the grandchild, 5) a sense of an authentic or independent grandparent/grandchild relationship not dominated by, but supported by, the middle generation. Analysis of variance identified the impact of seven independent variables on the quality of grandparent/grandchild relationships.

Shared activities of grandparents and grandchildren

Responses of 391 young adult grandchildren to a list of 29 activities gave empirical support to the usefulness of the list by indicating the extent to which each activity was characteristic of their relationship with their most-close grandparent. Analyses of variance indicated the influence of 7 independent variables on the rating of the activities. Information from the study could provide a context to assist in considering the meaning of specific activities as they appear in research directed toward other aspects of the grandparent/grandchild relationship. It could also be helpful in educational programs as part of the anticipatory socialization of grandparents.