The meaning of grandparents as viewed by adolescent grandchildren: an empirical study in Belgium

More Than Just Treats? Effects of Grandparental Support for Children Growing up in Adversity

This study examined whether grandparental support is a protective factor for children's socio-emotional development in the context of adversity. Using longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we investigated the effects of grandparental support across development in children with and without adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Socio-emotional development was assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire when children were aged 3 years (N = 10,186), 5 years (N = 10,412) and 7 years (N = 10,551). Parent-reported grandparental childcare, coresidence and financial help were assessed and parents reported on the occurrence of five ACEs: physical and emotional abuse assessed with the Straus' Conflict Tactics Scale, parental mental illness assessed with the Kessler scale, domestic violence and parental separation. We found that children with relatively higher levels of ACEs showed more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing problems when they received grandparental care compared to non-grandparental (in)formal care, but only at age 3. By age 7, children with higher levels of ACEs receiving grandparental care showed less prosocial behaviour and more externalizing problems. In addition, grandparental financial support at age 3 was related to more externalizing problems. Post-hoc analyses showed that internalizing and externalizing behaviours at age 5 were related to an increased probability of grandparental childcare at age 7, indicating that children's socio-emotional problems trigger grandparental support. Our findings point to a protective effect of grandparental care on children's socio-emotional development at age 3. Our results highlight the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio-emotional development. RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS: Three-year-old children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing behaviour when they receive grandparental care. Grandparental care has therefore protective effects on young children's socio-emotional development in the context of family adversity. Grandparents respond to children's socio-emotional problems and family adversity by increasing financial support and involvement in care. These findings underscore the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio-emotional development.

Intergenerational Solidarity With Grandparents in Emerging Adulthood: Associations With Providing Support to Older Parents in Established Adulthood

We examined the link between types of intergenerational solidarity with grandparents among young adults in emerging adulthood and whether they provided instrumental and emotional support to their older parents in established adulthood. We used the 2000 and 2016 waves of the longitudinal study of generations and a sample of 229 grandmother-child and 175 grandfather-child dyads. Latent class analysis identified three classes describing intergenerational solidarity with grandparents (tight-knit, detached, and intimate-but-geographically distant) in grandmother-child and grandfather-child dyads in emerging adulthood. Path analyses showed that young adults who had a tight-knit relationship with their grandparents in emerging adulthood provided more instrumental and emotional support to their parents in established adulthood, compared with those who had a detached relationship with their grandparents in emerging adulthood. Results are interpreted in contexts of multigenerational interdependence within families and the sensitivity of young adults to the needs of older parents through their earlier connection to grandparents.

Death Anxiety and Willingness to Work in Geriatric Care: The Role of Contact With Older Adults

The current study sought to examine the moderating role of contact with older adults in the relationship between medical and nursing students' death anxiety and their willingness to work in geriatric care. A total of 385 Chinese freshman and sophomore medical and nursing students were included in this cross-sectional study. Logistic regression results showed that death anxiety was negatively related to students' willingness to work in geriatric care. The negative association between death anxiety and willingness was moderated by contact with general older adults (i.e., students who had frequent contact with general older adults were more willing to work in geriatric care even with a high level of death anxiety). However, contact with grandparents did not have a significant moderation effect. Interventions to reduce the negative impact of death anxiety on students' willingness to work with older adults should consider increasing medical and nursing students' quality and frequency of contact with older adults. [Journal of Gerontological Nursing, 48(6), 49-56.].

Impact of Contact With Grandparents on Children's and Adolescents' Views on the Elderly

Stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination against the elderly (ageism) may manifest themselves in children at an early age. However, the factors influencing this phenomenon are not well known. Using both explicit and open-ended questions, this study analyzed the influence of personal and familial parameters on the views of 1,151 seven- to sixteen-year-old Belgian children and adolescents on the elderly. Four factors were found to affect these views: gender (girls had slightly more positive views than boys), age (ageism was lowest in 10- to 12-year-old, reminiscent of other forms of stereotypes and cognitive developmental theories), grandparents' health, and most importantly, quality of contact with grandparents (very good and good contacts correlated with more favorable feelings toward the elderly, especially in children with frequent contacts).

Panamanian Grandmothers' Family Relationships and Adjustment to Having a Grandchild with a Disability

The purpose of this article was to explore the family relationships and role adjustment of grandmothers in the Republic of Panama who have a grandchild with special needs. Thirty Panamanian grandmothers of children with a disability were interviewed using a standardized format and non-directive probing. Categories of analysis were established only after the data was fully collected and reviewed. The results indicate that for most Panamanian grandmothers, their changes in family relationships are not dramatic when they have a grandchild with a disability; however, 25% clearly report a deteriorated relationship with their son-in-laws. They view their relationship with their grandchild with a disability to be one that provides a mixture of affection, love, acceptance and patience. In the area of role adjustment, they see a need to become more involved in areas that include assisting their grandchildren and/or her family with caregiving and household responsibilities, economic and medical support, or in areas related to school/academic, spiritual or recreational activities. With respect to emotional adjustment, Panamanian grandmothers of children with disabilities distinguish themselves from grandmothers in the United States, by experiencing reduced emotional stress and dwelling less on personal loss, grief, or role stigma. The implications are that there appear to be universal beliefs and adjustment factors that Panamanian grandmothers of grandchildren with disabilities experience. However, culture appears to have a genuine influence that results in subtle but unique differences from their U.S. counterparts.

What Gives Meaning in Life to Patients With Advanced Cancer? A Comparison Between Spanish, German, and Swiss Patients

CONTEXT

Meaning in life (MiL) is a construct that varies across individuals, situations, cultures, and countries, and protects against emotional distress at the end of life.

OBJECTIVES

To examine MiL in inpatients with advanced cancer from Barcelona, Spain, and to compare the findings with those obtained in German and Swiss samples.

METHODS

This was a cross-sectional study in which the Schedule for Meaning in Life Evaluation (SMiLE) was administered. The SMiLE asks respondents to list individual areas that give meaning in their lives and then to rate their current level of importance and satisfaction with the listed areas.

RESULTS

A total of 101 inpatients completed the SMiLE. The Index of Satisfaction was 76.8 ± 21.1, the Index of Weighting was 88.0 ± 13.0, and the Index of Weighted Satisfaction was 76.9 ± 20.7. Family, partnership, well-being, and friends were the four areas listed by the largest proportion of Spanish patients. Compared with the German sample, Spanish patients were more likely to list well-being (P < 0.01) and pleasure (P < 0.05) and less likely to list animals/nature, leisure time, and finances (P < 0.01). With respect to their Swiss counterparts, Spanish patients were more likely to list health (P < 0.01) and less likely to list friends, leisure time, animals/nature, and finances (P < 0.01).

CONCLUSION

Differences were identified in the areas of MiL listed by the participants according to country of origin. Compared with their German and Swiss counterparts, the Spanish patients listed more areas involving interpersonal relationships. Interpersonal relationships, at both the family and wider social level, are reported to be the areas that give the greatest MiL to these patients. These aspects, therefore, should be considered when drawing up care plans designed to help patients achieve the maximum possible comfort and quality of life.

Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships from the Children's Perspective: Shared Activities and Socialization Styles

The objective of this study is to describe the relationships between grandchildren and their favourite grandparents, by studying the socialization styles used by latter and the shared activities undertaken. The participants were 360 children between 10 and 12 years old, who completed the grandparent-grandchild relationship questionnaire of Rico, Serra and Viguer (2001) and the socialization questionnaire of Rey and Ruiz (1990). The results demonstrate the importance of gender and family line in the selection of the favourite grandparent, differences being shown in the types of shared activities and in socialization styles. It is concluded that in the majority of cases the profile of the favourite grandparent is the maternal grandmother, retired or a house wife, aged between 60-70, who lives in the same city as his/her grandchild, and who has contact with them several times a week. Furthermore, favourite grandparents get more involved with granddaughters than with grandsons, both in support and care activities and in cultural-recreational activities, and they primarily employ a democratic style. However, there are differences depending on the gender of the grandchild, with democratic principles being used more with girls and authoritarian ones with boys.

“My Grandparent Has Dementia”

The study examined the grandparent–grandchild relationship when the grandparent has dementia. Grandchildren living in Barcelona, Spain, participated in the study ( n = 145). These participants completed a questionnaire that included questions on: (a) the frequency of 15 emotions they may have experienced in this relationship, (b) their current relationship with a grandparent who has dementia (frequency of contact, emotional closeness, and satisfaction with the relationship), and (c) perception of changes in the relationship. Results showed that the dementia process has a negative impact on the relationship between grandparent and grandchildren. However, in some cases, there was also potential for positive changes, which are mainly related to the ability to keep emotional contact and express positive emotions. Findings suggested the need to take into account grandchildren when planning training programs for families caring for relatives with dementia, such as providing information about the disease and improving their coping strategies.

Learning from the Disease: Lessons Drawn from Adolescents Having a Grandparent Suffering Dementia

The objective of this study was to explore what adolescent grandchildren have learned from having a grandparent who suffers dementia and what coping strategies they might recommend for other adolescents in similar situations. We also present information on background factors influencing lessons learned and coping strategies. Adolescent grandchildren living in Barcelona, Spain participated in the study ( N = 138). Qualitative analysis was conducted on responses to 2 open-ended questions regarding lessons learned from having a grandparent with dementia and advice to other grandchildren facing similar situations. Five learning and 4 coping strategies emerged from the analysis. Adolescents reported about the value of life, the complexity of the life-span, and changes in personal characteristics such as patience and responsibility as a result of the experience. Advice to other adolescents primarily focused on accepting the dementia as well as acquiring behavioral coping strategies. Binary logistic regression analysis revealed that type of care grandparent receives—day center versus nursing home—and age of the adolescent influenced lessons learned and coping strategies. Implications for the developmental tasks of the grandchild during adolescence are discussed.

Does paternal uncertainty explain discriminative grandparental solicitude? A cross-cultural study in Greece and Germany

Recent research on kin investment as a reproductive strategy is based on the idea that differences in grandparental caregiving directly reflect degrees of differential grandpaternal versus grandmaternal certainty. In a cross-cultural study in Greece and Germany, 544 subjects (318 Greeks, 208 Germans, 18 of other origins) were asked for an assessment of their grandparents' (GPs') caregiving. In Germany and urban Greece (modern Western societies), the maternal GPs were rated as more intensive caregivers than the paternal GPs, but this was not the case in rural Greece, where paternal GPs provided more care. However, in all groups, grandmothers were more caring than grandfathers. Thus, contrary to previous theory and research, these two effects must be clearly distinguished, and may be explained by (1) more intense female caregiving in humans (as in other viviparous mammals) and (2) a socially engendered favoring of maternal relatives in Western industrial societies as opposed to the favoring of paternal GPs seen in the patrilateral culture of rural Greece.