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Focus groups were conducted with 33 community dwelling, urban and rural, custodial grandparents to explore their willingness to comply with a behavioral intervention targeting improving their well-being and financial management. Most participants were African American (91%), female (79%) and middle-aged. Major themes included: 1) inability to access social services; 2) legal assistance; 3) emotional well-being; 4) problems related to the parents of grandchildren; and 5) identification of structured activities for grandchildren. Findings suggest custodial grandparents underutilize services. Future research should address methods to enhance grandparents’ utilization of resources facilitated via a peer navigator system along with policy level changes.

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Following Affection Exchange Theory, the aims of this study were to (a) examine if grandparents' provision of affectionate communication to their grandchildren differs depending on grandparent-grandchild sex and relationship type (i.e., biological=non-biological) and (b) to examine the relationships between grandparents' provision of affectionate communication and grandchildren's social relationship development. Undergraduate students (N ¼ 184) completed the Affectionate Communication Index (Floyd & Morman, 1998) in reference to a specific grandparent as well as self-reported involvement in and attitudes toward close social relationships. Results indicated that grandparents express the same amount of affection for their granddaughters and grandsons, but biological grandparents express more affection for their grandchildren than do nonbiological grandparents. Results further indicated that grandparents' expressed affection was related positively to grandchildren's social activities but related negatively to grandchildren's discomfort with closeness and social isolation.

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