AGE-DIFFERENCES IN GRANDCHILDRENS PERCEPTIONS OF RELATIONS WITH GRANDPARENTS

Although speculations about the role of grandparents within the develo ping grandchild's social networks abound, relatively few true empirica l investigations are in existence. For the present study, 169 3rd, 5th , and 7th grade children completed the Network of Relationships Invent ory (Furman and Buhrmester, 1985) which measured perceptions of social support and conflict with each available grandparent. Consistent with our expectations, most grandchildren reported supportive retationship s with grandparents, with older grandchildren perceiving less supporti ve relationships when contrasted to younger grandchildren. It was also found that paternal grandfathers were generally perceived as less sup portive compared to the other three types of grandparents. While grand daughters were expected to have stronger relations with grandparents r elative to grandsons, there were few overall significant gender differ ences among relationships. Finally, frequency of contact and grandpare nt health status were found to influence relationships with grandparen ts. Implications for future research efforts are discussed.