Grandparent Social Support: Links to Socio-emotional and

Academic Functioning Among Late Adolescents

Adeya RichmondLaura D. PittmanSandra Yu Rueger

Northern Illinois University

Influence of Grandparent Social Support

• Grandparents shown to:– buffer children at risk for maladjustment through

continuity of care (Werner & Smith, 1982)– be important confidantes in times of distress

(Kennedy & Kennedy, 1993)– serve as “functional substitutes” for depressed

parents to reduce youth’s emotional distress (Silverstein & Ruiz, 2006)

Grandparent Social Support and Late Adolescents

• Previous research has shown:– Grandparents are perceived by college students as

having a significant influence on their values, goals, and life choices (Franks, Hughes, Phelps, & Williams, 1993).

– Late adolescents’ emotional closeness to grandparents was linked to fewer depressive symptoms (Ruiz & Silverstein, 2007).

Grandparent Social Support and Gender

• Evidence that grandchildren have a stronger relationship with grandmothers than grandfathers (Roberto & Stroes, 1992).

• Disproportionate number of studies that have addressed grandparent support have focused only on support from grandmothers (e.g., Goodman, 2007; Henderson, Hayslip, Sanders, & Louden, 2009)

Study Objectives

• Examine variations of social support from grandmothers and grandfathers on adolescent functioning.

• Explore the protective role that grandparents might play in the lives of youth with poor parent-child relationships.

• Generate more data about mean differences between rates of grandmother and grandfather social support.

Questions for this study

• To what extent are different types of social support from grandparents associated with late adolescents’ psychological and academic functioning?

• Do varying types of parent-child relationship quality moderate the association between grandparent social support and late adolescents’ functioning?

Methods

• Participants…– were recruited from introductory level psychology

courses at a large Midwestern university– completed self-report questionnaires in small

groups and received course credit for their participation

– were asked to choose one grandmother and one grandfather as the referents for the items about grandparent(s) throughout the questionnaire

Network of Relationships Inventory (Furman & Buhrmester, 1985)

• Instrumental Aid (e.g., How often does this person help you when you need to get something done?)

• Admiration (e.g., How much does this person like or approve of the things you do?)

• Nurturance (e.g., How much do you protect and look out for this person?)• Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.83 to 0.88• Questions about grandmother and grandfather social

support were asked separately

Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987)

• Trust (e.g., My mother/father trusts my judgment.)• Communication (e.g., I tell my mother/father about

my problems and troubles.)• Alienation (e.g., I get upset easily around my

mother/father.)– Cronbach’s alphas ranged from 0.83 to 0.92– Questions about mother and father relationships

were asked separately

Adolescent Functioning• Psychological Functioning was assessed by:

– Mental Health Inventory (Veit & Ware, 1983), Mental Health Index (Cronbach’s α = 0.96)

– Self-Perception Profile for College Students (Neeman & Harter, 1986), Global Self-Worth subscale (Cronbach’s α = 0.87)

• Academic functioning was assessed by:– adolescents’ reports of their college grade point

average (GPA)– Self-Perception Profile for College Students (Neeman

& Harter, 1986), Scholastic Competence subscale (Cronbach’s α = 0.76)

Sample Characteristics

• Participants– 297 undergraduate college students (51% female)

• 60 % Caucasian (n = 179) • 21 % African-American (n = 62) • 11 % Latino (n = 33) • 5 % Asian-American (n = 15) • 2 % Other (n = 5)• 1% Biracial (n = 3)

– Age range: 18 to 22 years (M = 19, SD = 0.86)

OLS Regressions• 1) Entered main effects of grandparent

support• 2) Added parent-child relationship quality to

regressions• 3) Added interactions between grandparent

support and parent-child relationship quality• All analyses controlled for gender, race, age,

standard of living, and parent marriage status• Models run separately for grandmother and

grandfathers as well as mothers and fathers

Main effects of Grandmother social support

• No significant main effects for Grandmother Instrumental Aid and Nurturance

• More Grandmother Admiration was positively linked with:– Psychological Well-Being (β = 0.26**)

• No longer significant after including parent-child variables– Global Self-Worth (β = 0.32***)

• Remained significant after including parent-child variables– Scholastic Competence (β = 0.22**)

• Remained significant after including parent-child variables– College GPA (β = 0.17*)

• Remained significant after including parent-child variables

Main effects for Grandfather social support

• No significant main effects for Grandfather Instrumental Aid and Nurturance

• More Grandfather Admiration was positively linked with:– Psychological Well-Being (β = 0.22*)

• No longer significant after including parent-child variables

– Global Self-Worth (β = 0.24**)• No longer significant after including parent-child variables

Interactions with Parent-Child Relationship

• Six interactions were significant– Grandfather Social Support

• Admiration interaction with Mother Alienation on Scholastic Competence

– Grandmother Social Support• Admiration interaction with Father Alienation and

Mother Alienation on college GPA• Instrumental Aid and Father Communication on

Psychological Well-being• Instrumental Aid and Father Trust on Global Self-worth

Interaction between Mother Alienation and Grandfather Admiration predicting Scholastic Competence

- 1 SD +1 SD3.7

3.8

3.9

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

4.5

4.6

1 SD below the mean Alienation1 SD above the mean Alienation

Grandfather Admiration

Sc

ho

las

tic

Co

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ete

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Interaction between Mother Alienation and Grandmother Admiration predicting College GPA

- 1 SD +1 SD3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

4

4.1

4.2

4.3

4.4

1 SD below the mean Mother Alienation 1 SD above the mean Mother Alienation

Grandmother Admiration

Co

lleg

e G

PA

Interaction between Mother Alienation and Grandmother Nurturance predicting Scholastic

Competence

- 1 SD +1 SD2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

1 SD below the mean Alienation 1 SD above the mean Alienation

Grandmother Nurturance

Sc

ho

las

tic

Co

mp

ete

nc

e

Interaction between Father Alienation and Grandmother Admiration predicting College GPA

- 1 SD +1 SD2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

3.8

3.9

1 SD below the mean Father Alienation 1 SD above the mean Father Alienation

Grandmother Admiration

Co

lleg

e G

PA

Interaction between Father Communication and Grandmother Instrumental Aid predicting

Psychological Well-being

- 1 SD +1 SD80

85

90

95

100

105

110

1 SD below the mean Father Communication

1 SD above the mean Father Communication

Grandmother Instrumental Aid

Ps

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log

ica

l We

ll-b

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g

Interaction between Father Trust and Grandmother Instrumental Aid predicting Global

Self-worth

- 1 SD +1 SD2.7

2.8

2.9

3

3.1

3.2

3.3

3.4

3.5

3.6

3.7

1 SD below the mean Father Trust1 SD above the mean Father Trust

Grandmother Instrumental Aid

Glo

ba

l Se

lf W

ort

h

Summary

• Grandparent Admiration was linked with positive psychological outcomes.

• More associations were found when examining Grandmother social support as opposed to Grandfather social support.

Summary

• Grandparent social support is more likely to be linked to late adolescents' functioning when the quality of the parent-child relationship is poor and this link is more likely among Grandmother support than Grandfather support.

Summary

• Additional types of grandparent social support may be significantly associated with similar measures of psychological and academic functioning

• Grandparent social support may be significantly associated with other important outcomes (e.g., delinquent behaviors)

Limitations & Future Directions

• Limitations– Cross-sectional data, limited sample size

• Future Directions– More analyses examining contextual factors such as

family of origin and family structure– Exploring social support among custodial

grandparents– Additional analyses exploring gender differences– Longitudinal data on influence of grandparents over

time