HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS		QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Cited by other online articles Google Scholar Articles by Goodman, C. C. Articles citing this Article PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Goodman, C. C.

Intergenerational Triads in Grandparent-Headed Families

Department of Social Work, California State University, Long Beach.

Address correspondence to Catherine Chase Goodman, DSW, Professor of Social Work, California State University, 1250 Bellflower Boulevard, Long Beach, CA 90840. E-mail: Goodman{at}csulb.edu

Objectives. Grandparents are becoming caregivers of their grandchildren more often as a result of their adult children's drug addiction, mental problems, and financial need. This study examined grandmothers' well-being in relation to bonding within intergenerational triads consisting of grandmother, parent, and grandchild.

Methods. Interviews were conducted with 987 grandmothers recruited through schools and media, including 512 custodial grandmothers raising their grandchildren and 475 coparenting grandmothers helping their adult sons or daughters to raise their grandchildren.

Results. Contrary to expectation, triangulation involving a weak parent–grandmother relationship was not related to significantly lower grandmother well-being. In contrast, the emotionally isolated parent, particularly common in custodial families, was related to lower grandmother well-being, whether or not the parent lived in the household. The configuration in which the parent provided a link for both other generations was frequent in coparenting families, but it was not significantly different in grandmother well-being compared to other linking triads.

Discussion. Intergenerational triad types appear to be broadly relevant emotional configurations that transcend living situations but appear with different frequencies in custodial and coparenting families. Results affirm the utility of examining multirelationship patterns and describe the restructuring of intergenerational relationships characteristic of parental absence.

This article has been cited by other articles: (Search Google Scholar for Other Citing Articles)

				C. M. Musil, C. B. Warner, J. A. Zauszniewski, A. B. Jeanblanc, and K. Kercher Grandmothers, Caregiving, and Family Functioning J. Gerontol. B. Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci., March 1, 2006; 61(2): S89 - S98. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]