Examining grandparental role, stress, and resilience in the development of grandparent-grandchild relationships

ABSTRACT

This study examined associations among stress, resilience, and relational maintenance behaviors (RMB) in the development of grandchild-grandparent relationships for grandparents in varying near-parental roles. Grandparents (n = 389) in greater near-parental roles reported higher stress and less relationship satisfaction; however, resilience moderated some of these relationships. Grandparents in greater near-parental roles with moderate and high levels of resilience enacted more RMB compared to those with low resilience. Furthermore, moderated mediation analyses suggested that, for grandparents with low resilience, increases in serving in near-parental roles decreased relationship satisfaction perhaps due to higher stress. In contrast, for grandparents with moderate/high resilience, increases in serving in near-parental roles were associated with more RMB, and ultimately, increased relationship satisfaction.

KEYWORDS:

• Grandparents in near-parental roles
• stress
• resilience
• relational maintenance behaviors

Acknowledgments

None.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1. Figures depicting the significant moderation effects are available upon request.