The Good Grandparent: Perspectives of Young Adults

As life expectancy increases, the role of grandparent has increased in duration and is continually adapting as families change in structure, function and form. Across the past several decades, researchers have examined grandparenting styles, finding some consistency as well as the emergence of newer styles, and evidence that grandparenting styles are related to the age and gender of both the grandparents and the grandchildren. In this study, we investigated young adults’ perceptions of grandparenting quality. University Students (N?=?470) from a Midwestern university responded to an online survey that asked them to evaluate the quality of their grandparents grandparenting now and at two retrospective points in time, childhood and adolescence. We hypothesized that the grandparents' performance of multiple styles of their role would be related to grandparenting quality. In addition, we expected that preferred grandparental roles would vary in relation to grandchildren's gender. The results of regression analysis indicated that, although grandparenting quality tended to decline across the respondents' developmental stages, higher ratings at an earlier stage were related to higher ratings at the latter two stages. Further, grandsons preferred grandparents who performed as supporters and advisors, whereas granddaughters preferred grandparents who functioned as supporter and friend. Overall, grandmothers were likely to be the more significant grandparent. Continual research on both grandchildren and grandparents will be needed to chronicle the development of the grandparental role in changing times.     

Fathering Styles: Qualities Children Expect in Their Fathers

Abstract

Many fathers strive to be better parents. Yet it remains unclear what qualities contribute to effective fathering; less is clear about how such paternal efforts are viewed by their children. Based on theoretical frameworks and previous qualitative studies that assessed father roles, a set of father role items was developed to assess undergraduate students’ views of their fathers (n?=?1,208). Factor analysis revealed two distinctive aspects of fathering quality: considerateness (friendly, supportive and child-centered) and traditionalism (authoritarian, disciplinarian and provider). A path analysis revealed directional and relative effects of these two dimensions on perceived fathering quality. Further, based on these two distinctive dimensions, four fathering styles were developed, which predicted children’s developmental outcomes. Ways of improving paternal parenting are discussed.