Relationships with grandparents and grandchildren's well-being after parental divorce

Grandparents are often considered as providing important resources in times of family crisis. Little is known, however, about the influence of grandparents on the well-being of grandchildren after parental divorce. This article investigates the association between the quality of relationships with grandparents and grandchildren’s subjective well-being. Using data from the study ‘Divorce in Flanders’, the authors compare 567 grandchildren with divorced and 238 with married parents regarding four indicators of subjective well-being (life satisfaction, self-esteem, mastery, and depressive feelings) and also examine variation within the group with divorced parents. Results show that the strength of grandchild–grandparent relationships is positively associated with grandchildren’s subjective well-being and that having a very good relationship with a grandparent matters even more for grandchildren whose parents have divorced. Moreover, grandchildren who experience frequent conflicts between divorced parents seem to benefit most from close grandparent relationships.

Jaar van publicatie:2019

BOF-keylabel:ja

IOF-keylabel:ja

BOF-publication weight:2

CSS-citation score:1

Authors from:Higher Education

Toegankelijkheid:Open