Despite the importance of grandparenthood in the personal and family contex
t, as well as its increasing economic, political and legal implications, re
search addressing its meaning and significance hers been sparse and charact
erized by theoretical and methodological limitations. The main theoretical
limitation is the lack of a clear definition at the conceptual level. Metho
dological limitations include not only the use of small and non-inclusive s
amples, most of which pertain to only one or two generations, but also the
lack of a well-developed multidimensional measurement approach. The aim of
the present paper is to describe the status of research on the meaning of g
randparenthood, and discuss its conceptual and methodological developments,
especially regarding measurement issues. An example of an ongoing research
program is provided as a guideline for future research. (C) 1998, Editrice
Kurtis.