Summary: Qualitative interviews were conducted to grandmothers and children living in transnational families in the Philippines. The study aims to examine how they experience their life situation and how they find strategies to cope with difficulties that may appear in transnational family life. Findings: The grandmothers experience difficulties with ageing and health problems in their role as caregivers, and the children experience difficulties with new responsibilities such as household chores, taking care of younger siblings and manage school. For both respondents the financial benefits with having a family member working abroad is the most important. Applications: The results are discussed in the context of globalization, transnational families and gender.

This study investigated the effects of family structure on Italian grandmothers' perceptions of their level of involvement, role conceptualizations and their positions on common familial issues. The sample consisted of Italian grandmothers from two groups of families: intact families (N = 30) in which grandmothers' adult children were in first marriages; and divorced families (N = 23) in which grandmothers' adult children were permanently separated or divorced. Level of involvement was operationalized in terms of contact, specifically frequency of visitation and telephone calls, between a grandparent and a grandchild. Variables that have been found to influence contact (a grandparent's custodial and kinship relationships, geographic distance, age of both grandparent and grandchild, and grandparent-parent accord) were also assessed. A grandparent's role within the family was operationalized in terms of their level of agreement to statements made by grandparents about their roles as involved family members, special protectors of grandchildren, available family members, conveyers of cultural traditions, and family "watchdogs". A grandparent's view with respect to contemporary family issues was assessed through their responses to statements about contemporary family life. The results indicate that contact was significantly greater between grandmothers and grandchildren in the intact as opposed to the divorced group. Grandmothers' roles within the family as well as their attitudes towards various family issues were not found to differ across family type. The findings were discussed in light of cultural and ethnic perspectives on divorce.

In recent years, an increasing number of rural grandmothers in mainland China have migrated to cities for the sake of their grandchildren and to share the burden of childcare with their adult children. In childrearing cooperation, the rural-urban migrant grandmothers face not only intergenerational differences but also rural-urban differences in childrearing. When rural-urban grandmothers provide childrearing assistance in cities, their grandmothering is influenced by the urban childrearing discourse through their cooperation with urban parents. However, our knowledge about their grandmothering is limited. Moreover, existing studies on the migrant elderly tend to describe grandparents as having outdated values and being passively constrained by the structure; therefore, these studies have neglect their agency. In my research, I explore how rural-urban migrant grandmothers contribute to grandchildren's daily care, education and discipline under the influence of urban childrearing discourse, which is mainly reflected in their cooperation with their adult children. I will examine both the intergenerational solidarity and conflicts in the cooperation. Moreover, inspired by the concept of agency, I argue that rural-urban migrant grandmothers are strategic agents, and I examine their agency in response to the urban childrearing discourse. My qualitative data are obtained through in-depth interviews and participant observations with 20 rural-urban migrant grandmothers in two field sites--Beijing and Taian--on mainland China. I find that the cooperation mechanism reflects flexibility, diversity and dynamic. The rural-urban grandmothers use diverse methods to cooperate with their adult children and to contribute to grandchildren's daily care, education and discipline. To fulfil their tasks, grandmothers face challenges such as uncertainty, financial disadvantages, and educational disadvantages. Moreover, the grandmothers experience many different childrearing conflicts with the parents, such as consumption, nutrition and health care. However, grandmothers can actively respond to these challenges and use the strategies of constructing an alternative discourse, using alternative methods and learning to cope with the problems. To deal with the conflicts, grandmothers emphasise two narratives: family harmony, which is most important; and, all for the child. Based on these two narratives, grandmothers use different strategies, such as direct and indirect communication, using hidden strategies, compromising, and keeping silence, when helping their adult children during childcare. Located in the context where the family is regarded as a union and the intergenerational relationship is protected, the agency of rural-urban migrant grandmothers is solidarity-oriented and altruist-oriented agency.

No description available.

Emotion socialization is defined as how socializers teach children about emotions, and one way socializers do this is through reminiscing about past emotional events. In the current study, I build on prior research on maternal emotion socialization by examining grandmothers' role in socializing children's emotions, given the prominence of grandparents' involvement in caregiving tasks for minority and underrepresented families. I also incorporate indirectness, a concept that is well-established in linguistic research. Rather than focusing on what family members say during emotion-related reminiscing, indirectness assesses how family members communicate reminiscing content. Participants for Study 1 – the Family Interaction Study – were 18 grandmother-mother-child triads (5 Latinx and 13 Appalachian) with children in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. Families discussed two past, shared emotional events together, one positive event and one negative, in both triadic and dyadic interactions. Grandmothers', mothers', and children's speech was coded for use of emotion labels and explanations, using an established coding scheme in the emotion socialization literature, as well as for indirectness, using a coding scheme created in my previous work. Grandmothers and mothers completed questionnaires about children's social outcomes (emotion regulation and social competence), and children self-reported on their own social behavior. Grandmothers and mothers also completed questionnaires about their beliefs about children's emotions, as well as their experiences related to being underrepresented. Finally, grandmothers and mothers responded to an open-ended prompt about their race, ethnicity, and culture in relation to emotion and family values. Descriptive analyses for the Family Interaction Study were conducted to examine similarities and differences between grandmothers' and mothers' speech during familial conversations. Descriptive results indicate that grandmothers and mothers were involved during reminiscing conversations to a similar extent. Given the small sample size for this study, I was not able to conduct the planned within- and across-group tests for associations between grandmothers' and mothers' experiences and beliefs, their emotion-related discourse, and children's social outcomes. Grandmothers' and mothers' responses to the open-ended prompt were analyzed with a thematic analysis. Qualitative results identified themes present in existing literature, such as those regarding emotion expression, emotion regulation, and teaching of emotion, as well as themes not yet identified in the literature, such as the role of religion in the socialization of children's emotions. Participants for Study 2 – the Online Grandmothers Study – were 150 grandmothers (52 African American, 51 Latinx, and 50 Appalachian) with grandchildren in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. Grandmothers completed the same questionnaires as the participants in the Family Interaction Study about grandchildren's social outcomes, as well as their beliefs about children's emotions, and their experiences related to being underrepresented. Quantitative analyses for this study were conducted to investigate associations between grandmothers' social position, beliefs about emotion, and grandchildren's social outcomes. Results for the Online Grandmothers Study indicate links between grandmothers' value of positive emotion and children's lower lability/negativity, lower internalizing behaviors, and lower externalizing behaviors, particularly for African American families. Further, for Appalachian families, results indicate a link between grandmothers' belief in parental guidance of children's emotions and children's lower externalizing behaviors. Thus, results suggest that grandmothers play a unique role in children's socio-emotional development, one that is both similar and different to the mother's. This role may pertinent for development in middle childhood for a few reasons, including grandmothers' influence on children's developing sense of self, promoting children's positive coping as they transition into adolescence, as well as providing salient experiences regarding race/ethnicity that may serve as a basis for racial-ethnic identity (REI) development. Overall, findings highlight the importance of considering intergenerational shared caregiving in minority families and the roles of grandmothers as socializing agents. / Doctor of Philosophy / Grandmothers are important for family functioning and influence how children develop social skills. In the current studies, I examined grandmothers' emotion talk, beliefs about emotions, and experiences as underrepresented, as well as links to children's social skills. Participants for Study 1 – the Family Interaction Study – were 18 grandmother-mother-child triads (5 Latinx and 13 Appalachian) with children in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. Families discussed past events together and speech was coded for emotion talk. Grandmothers and mothers completed questionnaires about their beliefs about children's emotions, children's social outcomes, as well as their experiences as being underrepresented. Finally, grandmothers and mothers responded to an open-ended prompt about their race, ethnicity, and culture in relation to emotion and family values. Descriptive results indicate that grandmothers were involved during reminiscing conversations to a similar extent as mothers. Themes were identified in grandmothers' and mothers' conversations about the open-ended prompt. Notably, grandmothers and mothers identified religion as an important influence on emotion in their families. Participants for Study 2 – the Online Grandmothers Study – were 150 grandmothers (52 African American, 51 Latinx, and 50 Appalachian) with grandchildren in the 3rd, 4th, or 5th grade. Grandmothers completed the same questionnaires as in Study 1. Results for the Online Grandmothers Study indicate links between grandmothers' value of positive emotion and better social skills, particularly for African American families. Further, for Appalachian families, results indicate a link between grandmothers' belief in parental guidance of children's emotions and children's better social skills. Findings illustrate the importance of grandmothers in underrepresented families and as influences on children's social skills.

Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- The Institute for Clinical Social Work, 2000. / A dissertation submitted to the faculty of the Institute of Clinical Social Work in partial fulfillment for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Includes bibliographical references (p. 238-254)

Using a grounded theory approach (Strauss & Corbin, 1990), this study produced a conceptual framework for exploring the relationships between grandmothers and the grandchildren they are raising. Twenty-one grandmothers and grandchildren were engaged in in-depth interviews. grandmothers had legal custody of the participating grandchildren for at least the last six months. Grandchildren were between the ages of 7 and 14. Data were analyzed using open coding, axial coding, and selected coding. Four of the seven grandmothers were found to have a similar pattern due in large part to their daughters having a long history of drug addiction. These four grandmothers are the focus of the model. The remaining three grandmothers have dissimilar situations, but support the model as well. The study proposed a three-phase model of the relationships. These phases included: rescuer/protector, caregiver/provider, and mother/advocate. The model described movement from each phase through contextual conditions. The mother/advocate phase became the most developed phase of the model. Eight strategies used by the grandmothers to manage the mother/advocate phase are proposed. In addition, seven intervening conditions were identified that either constrain or enhance the strategies.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Farrell J. Webb / The current study was focused on the role Black grandmothers played in biraical (Black and White) racial socialization process of their grandchild or grandchildren. Racial socialization process where by the grandmothers engaged in a systemtic and deliberate attempt to ensure that their grandchildren develp an awareness and sensibilty toward their Black hertiage. There were several criteria the grandmothers had to meet. They included being born before 1975, ensuring that the grandmothers expereienced the post 70s Black pride movement. The grandmother also needed to have contact with the identified grandchild. Qualitative methods with a phenomenological lens were employed. The Black grandmothers are seen as the experts on their experiences, thus phenomenology allowed me to probe deeper into the experiences of these grandmothers and their reality. One-on-one interviews were conducted with the participants at the location and time of their choice. The results revealed the perspective and methods they exercised in racially socializing their biracial grandchildren. The participants had similar beliefs as it related to what their role in the racial socialization process was supposed to be. There were eight primary themes that emerged were community influence, spirituality, social adjustment, feelings toward “the other”, social perception, cultural indoctrination, grandma’s burden, and the road ahead. Although, each grandmother had a different journey their conclusions regarding the way to socialize their biracial grandchildren as Black was unanimous.

ABSTRACT Stressors that custodial grandmothers face while raising children with disabilities can be more overwhelming compared to stressors experienced by grandmothers of non-disabled children. Strategies and various supports were looked into in order to determine how custodial grandmothers practice self-care so they may experience positive mental health outcomes. A purposive sample of custodial grandmothers was surveyed and the results obtained provided some support on how self-care is and is not practiced in order to manage stress. This study resulted in non-significant findings, which did not support the hypotheses. Additional analysis was used to gauge levels of stress, but could not provide evidence to support the hypotheses. Overall, understanding the challenges custodial grandmothers face while raising disabled children has provided insight to the occurring stressors, practicing of self-care to aid in promotion of positive mental health outcomes, and the need for further research to address this population of people.

The conceptual orientation of this study was informed by social ecology theory coupled with the concept of rural place, to investigate social processes embedded within the physical, social and symbolic environment affecting the health of rural grandmothers raising grandchildren. A modified grounded theory methodology was used to generate a middle range theory explicating the basic social process of rural grandmother-mothering. The Rural Grandmother-Mothering as Cushioning model explains how the rural place experience of the physical, social and perceptual environmental context influences the health of rural grandmothers raising grandchildren.This research has significance for the scientific community by demonstrating how place is fused with human experiences. Results can inform nursing interventions tailored to the unique social processes in rural settings and designed to promote the health of the increasing numbers of women engaged in grandmother-mothering.