Empirical research on grandfatherÀgrandchild relationships is small and undeveloped and has not enjoyed systematic theory construction. The weak theory-research connections in the extant grandfather literature have resulted in a body of research that is not cohesive and lacks scope and depth. To address these criticisms, I propose here a conceptual framework for understanding and investigating grandfathering and grandfatherÀgrandchild relationships. The generative grandfathering framework was developed as a result of reviewing and making extrapolations from the growing literature on grandparents and a limited grandfather literature. It is hoped that this framework will be useful to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in capturing the contributions that grandfathers and aging men make to grandchildren's lives.
The mental health of aging men is an understudied social issue. Although it is widely accepted that meaningful family relationships are associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive affect, scholars have largely overlooked relationships between grandfathers and grandchildren as being beneficial to men's mental health. This study investigates the differences in the depressive symptoms and positive affect of 351 grandfathers. Using a cluster analytic technique, participants were categorized as involved, passive, and disengaged based on their frequency of contact, level of commitment, and participation in activities with grandchildren. Comparative analyses indicate that involved grandfathers had fewer depressive symptoms than disengaged grandfathers. Involved grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers, and passive grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers. This study provides evidence that grandfather-grandchild relationships influence aging men's mental health. Implications for practitioners working with aging men are discussed.
The meanings of fatherhood conveyed in grandparent stories told by adult grandchildren vary both by the sex of the grandchild and by the sex of the grandparent who figures in the story. An inductive analysis was conducted of fatherhood stories involving grandparents as told by adult grandchildren ( N = 79). Findings suggest that grandsons drew on stories about grandparents to present fatherhood as centered on work and recreation, and to suggest that women play supporting roles. Granddaughters’ stories were less positive, and suggested that women must make up for perceived deficiencies of fathers. This qualitative study is the first to explore same- and cross-sex similarities and differences in grandparents’ socialization of grandchildren into meanings of good fathering.
Notwithstanding the recent growth in scholarship about grandparents and the sustained interest in fatherhood, there has been limited attention paid to the study of grandfathers. Few strides have been made to understand grandfathering behaviors and attitudes, and little is known about the relationships grandfathers develop and maintain with grandchildren. We suggest one reason for this trend is the lack of theoretical and conceptual groundwork needed to assist scholars engaged in grandparent-grandchild research. To address this issue, we propose the construct grandfather involvement and define it as having three critical components: Contact frequency, participation in activities, and commitment. These components have been previously explored in the grandparent literature and in other literatures as essential elements of the development of meaningful and healthy relationships. Until now, however, they have not been formulated into a usable framework. Having a clear definitional understanding of grandfather involvement will allow scholars to utilize the concepts to increase empirical and theoretical scholarship on grandfathers.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.