Associations Between Grandparent Involvement and Psychological Difficulties in Adolescents Facing Family Adversity

Yang, Sarah A.; Wild, Lauren G.

doi:10.1007/s10826-021-02223-8

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…More research is needed to examine whether the buffering effect of investment from MGMs on behavioral and emotional problems is strong enough to affect the long-term survival and reproductive outcomes of their grandchildren. In addition, although accounting for multiple adversities is advised as a way to effectively measure total environmental stress 64 , and earlier studies on this topic have used cumulative AELEs [65][66][67] , there could be distinct (i.e., non-additive) adverse early life events that affect specific developmental pathways and child outcomes that may show stronger or weaker, or adaptive or maladaptive, effects 6 .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first such study found that the investment of the closest grandparent buffered the influence of adversities on grandchildren's psychopathology in England and Wales 65 , but such an association was not found in a following study in Malaysia 66 . The third study reported a protective role of the investment of the closest grandparent in South Africa, but only in girls 67 . In these studies, only the grandparent with the highest investment frequency was incorporated into the analyses, which may create biases 12 .…”

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confidence: 93%

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Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences

Helle,

Tanskanen,

Coall

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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Exogenous shocks during sensitive periods of development can have long-lasting effects on adult phenotypes including behavior, survival and reproduction. Cooperative breeding, such as grandparental care in humans and some other mammal species, is believed to have evolved partly in order to cope with challenging environments. Nevertheless, studies addressing whether grandparental investment can buffer the development of grandchildren from multiple adversities early in life are few and have provided mixed results, perhaps owing to difficulties drawing causal inferences from non-experimental data. Using population-based data of English and Welsh adolescents (sample size ranging from 817 to 1197), we examined whether grandparental investment reduces emotional and behavioral problems in children resulting from facing multiple adverse early life experiences (AELEs), by employing instrumental variable regression in a Bayesian structural equation modeling framework to better justify causal interpretations of the results. When children had faced multiple AELEs, the investment of maternal grandmothers reduced, but could not fully erase, their emotional and behavioral problems. No such result was observed in the case of the investment of other grandparent types. These findings indicate that in adverse environmental conditions the investment of maternal grandmothers can improve child wellbeing.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences

Helle,

Tanskanen,

Coall

et al. 2024

Sci Rep

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“…On the other hand, this effect may be largely dependent on the child's age; thus the duration of the effect requires further research and examination. Many studies have reported positive effects of grandparental involvement for preschool children and for adolescents (Attar‐Schwartz & Buchanan, 2018; Luo et al, 2020; Yang & Wild, 2022), and Del Boca et al (2018) found that the negative effects of grandparental care on cognitive outcomes decline at the age of seven. Drawing upon five waves of data from a longitudinal UK study, He and Wang (2021) identified heterogeneous influences of grandparent involvement on children's well‐being across different developmental stages.…”

Section: The Effects Of Grandparental Carementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Two studies from Taiwan reported that students who live with grandparents have higher standardized test scores than those who do not live with their grandparents (Kuan & Yang, 2004;Pong & Chen, 2010). In addition to the direct effect, the "buffering effect" of grandparent involvement against family stress has also been demonstrated in the United States, China, and South Africa (Barnett et al, 2010;Luo et al, 2020;Yang & Wild, 2022).…”

Section: The Effects Of Grandparental Carementioning

confidence: 99%

Early and continuing grandparental care and middle school students' educational and mental health outcomes in China

Hong

Zeng

2022

Journal Community Psychology

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Several recent studies have examined the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren, but few have examined the effects of early and continuing grandparental care on children's development in China. Using data from the China Education Panel Survey, this study examines the effects of early and continuing care, in which grandparents serve as primary caregivers on middle school students' educational (measured by academic performance and cognitive scores) and mental health (depression score) outcomes. Using multilevel analyses and robustness tests, the results show that for urban and rural students, students cared for by their grandparents showed no disadvantages in their educational outcomes. For rural students who received grandparental care in early childhood or adolescence academically outperformed those who received only parental care. Urban and rural students who received only grandparental care in early childhood and adolescence show worse mental health outcomes. These results challenge the prevailing belief that grandparent caregiving can harm grandchildren's school preparation and cognitive abilities.

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“…However, existing research on intergenerational living arrangements has paid limited attention to comparing three-generation co-residence (where grandparents, parents, and grandchildren live together) with skip-generation co-residence (where only grandparents and grandchildren live together). These distinct family residence structures exhibit systematic differences: the former emphasizes the supplementary role of grandparents to parents, while the latter leans toward substituting parental responsibilities ( Wikle and Hoagland, 2020 ; Yang and Wild, 2022 ). In order to provide a clearer illustration of the three family living structures, namely two-parent co-residence, three-generation co-residence, and skip-generation co-residence, Table 1 is utilized to demonstrate the differences in residential structure among these household types.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The impact of family residence structure on adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities: evidence from China

Tang,

Xiao,

Zhang

et al. 2024

Front. Psychol.

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PurposeThe family residence structure serves as a crucial pathway through which the family environment influences adolescents’ development.MethodsDrawing on nationally representative data, this study employs multiple linear regression models and propensity score matching to examine the impact of various family residence structures on adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities. Causal identification is achieved through propensity score matching, while robustness is assessed using methods such as augmented inverse probability weighting and placebo tests. Heterogeneity analysis is conducted based on gender and household registration, aiming to explore the mechanisms by which family residence structure affects adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities.ResultsThe findings indicate that compared to two-parent co-residence households, three-generation co-residence families have significantly positive effects on emotional stability, conscientiousness, and agreeableness among adolescents. In contrast, skip-generation coresidence families exhibit significant negative effects on emotional stability and agreeableness in adolescents. Further investigation into the underlying mechanisms reveals that parental involvement and family socioeconomic status within three-generation co-residence families positively influence adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities.ConclusionThis study highlights the importance of considering grandparents’ role in adolescent growth and advocates for policy recommendations focusing on enhancing non-cognitive abilities in adolescents from skip-generation co-residence families.

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Associations Between Grandparent Involvement and Psychological Difficulties in Adolescents Facing Family Adversity

Cited by 4 publications

References 59 publications

Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences

Investment by maternal grandmother buffers children against the impacts of adverse early life experiences

Early and continuing grandparental care and middle school students' educational and mental health outcomes in China

The impact of family residence structure on adolescents’ non-cognitive abilities: evidence from China

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