DYNAMICS IN A 3-GENERATIONAL FAMILY - TEENS, GRANDPARENTS, AND BABIES

A sample of 64 2-grandparent, working-class families with a teen and h er child under 2 was used to test the hypotheses that grandmothers hav e a direct influence on their grandchild and that grandparents also ha ve an indirect effect on the young child through their influence on th e teen's nurturance and perceptions of family support. Hypotheses were based on research concerning fathers, our previous research showing d irect grandfather effects, and the literature on modeling, mediation, and surrogate parenting. Major findings from the path analyses were th at grandfathers had a direct effect on children and that grandmothers had neither direct nor indirect influence. Results are discussed in te rms of the salience of nurturant grandfathers in these families and th e unique role they may play in the family.