Life Course Transitions, the Generational Stake, and Grandparent-Grandchild Relationships Author(s): Robert Crosnoe and Glen H. Elder, Jr. Source: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 64, No. 4 (Nov., 2002), pp. 1089-1096 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3600007 . Accessed: 05/12/2013 09:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org. . National Council on Family Relations is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Marriage and Family. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Grandparent-GrandchildRelations Our fourth research question also addresses variability.Is the link between the grandchild's entryinto highereducationand the qualityof the relationshipmoderatedby grandparent-grandchild the grandparent'srelationshipwith the grandchild's parent?This questionis based on family systemstheory(Cox & Paley, 1997), whichholds thatany relationshipcannotbe divorcedfromthe larger family system and past findings that the gatekeeperrole of the middle generationlinks young and old and affects relationshipquality (King & Elder, 1995; Rossi & Rossi, 1990). In families where grandparentsand parentsare not close, enrollment in higher education, which might entail freedom from parentalconstraints, could allow young people to build strongerties with grandparents. METHOD Sample 1091 Measures For each of two intergenerationalrelationship characteristics,we create grandparent(based on grandparentreports on the focal adolescent in 1994 and 1998) and grandchild(basedon grandchild reportsaboutthat grandparent in 1994 and 1997) versions.All other variablesare based on 1994 data. From this point on, we refer to 1994 data as Time 1 (or pretransition)and 1997/1998 dataas Time 2 (or posttransition). Grandparentmentoring.Grandchildrenassessed how often (1 = never to 4 = often) their grandparentgave adviceor helpedwith problems(M = 2.45, SD = 0.93 in 1994; M = 2.54, SD = 1.02 in 1997). For grandparents,we take the sum of their assessments(1 = yes, 0 = no) of whether in the last monththey gave advice to the grandchild, served as a voice of experience,served as a sourceof familyhistory,andtalkedto the grandchild abouttheir own childhood(M = 3.07, SD = 1.04 in 1994;M = 3.18, SD = 0.94 in 1998). relationship. Quality of grandparent-grandchild The Iowa Youthand FamiliesProject,which beGrandparentsassessed the quality of relations gan in 1989, is a longitudinalstudyof 451 famiwith their target grandchild(1 = poor to 4 = lies (parents,focal adolescent in 7th grade in excellent),how close they felt to the grandchild 1989, and a near sibling) in NorthCentralIowa. = = In 1994 and 1998, grandparentswere also sur- (1 not at all to 5 very), and how much the made them feel loved and appreciated par- grandchild veyed. Not all adolescentshad a grandparent 4 = to a lot). These items are not at all (1 par- standardizedand ticipate,and some had all four grandparents averaged,with the absolutevalticipate. ue of the minimumadded to each case to ease To select our studysample,we chose the 1994 (M = 4.00, SD = 0.83 in 1994; M interpretation survey (when focal adolescentswere seniors in = 5.00, SD = 0.81 in 1998). For grandchildren, high school) as the startingpoint and the latest we takethe meanof theirassessmentsof how hapsurvey (1997 for adolescents,1998 for grandpar- py they were with their relationshipswith the ents) as the end point. Althoughthese two end (1 = very unhappyto 4 - very hapgrandparent pointsdiffer,we believe they are close enoughto py) and how often (1 - not at all to 4 = a lot) each other and within the normativespan of the their grandparentmade them feel loved and apadulttransitionto be useful. A total of 411 adopreciated(M = 3.42, SD - 0.71 in 1994; M = lescents and 592 grandparents participatedat both 3.44, SD = 0.72 in 1997). time points. This attritionis not negligible, but past studies of the samplehave shown no strong Grandchildtransitions.We createdbinary meaattritionbiases (King & Elder,1999). In orderto sures for whetherthe grandchildhad enrolledin and grandchildren matchgrandparent a 2- or 4-year college, gotten married,become a reports,we had to focus on specific grandparent-grandchil- parent,or startedfull-time employmentbetween drenpairs.Ratherthanhavinga single grandchild 1994 and 1997. appearin the data multipletimes (with the anaControlvariables.Analysescontrolfor grandparlyticalproblemsthis repetitionposes), we selected one grandparentfor each focal child who had a ent gender(1 = female, 73%);grandparenteduinterviewedthrougha processof ran- cation (1 - attendedcollege, 24%);grandparent grandparent dom assignment.The final study samplecontains self-reportedhealth (1 = poor to 4 = excellent; maritalstatus M = 3.03, SD - 0.77); grandparent 316 grandparent-grandchild pairs. This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions 1096 Journal of Marriage and Family L., & Conger,R. D. (in press).Relationswith grandparents:RuralMidwest versus urbansouthernCalifornia. Journal of Family Issues. Rossi, A. S., & Rossi, P. H. (1990). Of humanbonding: Parent-child relations across the life course. New York:Aldine. Silverstein,M., & Long, J. D. (1998). Trajectoriesof grandparents'perceivedsolidaritywith adult grand- children:A growth curve analysis over 23 years. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 912-923. Szinovacz, M. E. (1998). Handbook on grandparent- hood. Westport,CT:Greenwood. Uhlenberg,P., & Kirby,J. B. (1998). Grandparenthood over time: Historicaland demographictrends.In M. E. Szinovacz (Ed.), Handbook on grandparenthood (pp. 23-39). Westport,CT:Greenwood. This content downloaded from 137.52.76.29 on Thu, 5 Dec 2013 09:32:26 AM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions Please read the attached article and answer the following: Which lifestyle do you think is healthiest for aging people—activity, continuity, or disengagement theories? What are the pros and cons of each theory? Consider the potential for social problems related to gender/sex, race/ethnicity, social status, and age inequality and how they impact the choices of the elderly. Please use examples from the article and text when you formulate your answer. 
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