Grandparental involvement and South African adolescents’ emotional and behavioural health: a summary of research findings

ABSTRACT

South African grandparents provide considerable support to their grandchildren. However, little is known about whether grandparental involvement contributes to children's well-being. This paper synthesises the findings of our research on the relationship between grandparental involvement and the emotional and behavioural health of South African adolescents. In the first phase of the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 adolescents. Thematic analysis indicated that grandparents served as caregivers or surrogate parents, teachers and sources of motivation and emotional support. In the second phase, we piloted a structured questionnaire informed by the qualitative evidence with 204 students in Grades 8 and 9 (mean age = 13.69 years) at a public high school. In phase 3, the survey instrument was administered to a larger sample of 671 adolescents. Multiple regression models indicated that greater grandparental involvement was associated with more adolescent prosocial behaviour, regardless of family structure and the level of parental involvement. In addition, maternal grandfather involvement was associated with fewer adolescent emotional problems. Maternal grandmother involvement predicted fewer adolescent internalising problems only when grandmothers and adolescents co-resided in three-generation households. The findings suggest that grandparental involvement is a potential resource for promoting social and emotional competence in adolescents.

KEYWORDS:

• Grandparents
• adolescents
• emotional health
• behavioural health
• prosocial behaviour

Acknowledgements

This work was supported in part by an International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) Developing Country Fellowship and a Carnegie Research Development Grant. The author thanks the postgraduate students who contributed to this research; the Western Cape Education Department; and the principals, teachers and learners at participating schools.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes on contributor

Lauren Wild is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town (UCT). She holds an MA in research psychology from UCT, and a PhD from the University of Cambridge. Her research addresses two main areas within developmental psychology: family processes and developmental psychopathology.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York (Research Development Grant) and the International Society for the Study of Behavioural Development (ISSBD) (Developing Country Fellowship).