Dynamics in a Three-Generational Family: Teens, Grandparents, and Babies

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