Grandparents University ® (GPU) is a 2-day campus-based nutrition education program for grandparents and grandchildren based on constructs from Social Cognitive Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior. This article describes how program theory was used to develop a working model, design activities, and select outcome measures of a 2-day…

This article focuses on the development and experiences of two African American Language speakers who are on the precipice of biliteracy and bilingualism. Using a composite counterstory that integrates samples of the girls' language during daily routines as a critical race theoretical analytic tool, we examine their language virtuosity as…

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to provide a framework for understanding the contemporary experience of First Nations grandparents. Fifteen respondents (N = 15) were selected from two demographically different Canadian cities. Seven of the grandparents lived with their child and a grandchild or grandchildren at the time of the…

Increasing numbers of children in the U.S. are living with their grandparents, many of whom are responsible for their grandchildren's care. In fact, the number of children living in a grandparent's household rose from 4.6 million in 2005-07, to 5.2 million in 2008-10. Grandparents may be called upon, often with little preparation, to provide…

In recent years, increasing numbers of grandparents in the U.S. are living with their grandchildren, and many grandparents are responsible for their care. These trends can be attributed to a number of factors, including increasing numbers of single-parent families, continued high rates of marriage dissolution, parents' incarceration, parental…

There has been a steady increase in the United States in recent decades of grandparents raising their grandchildren. The aim of this study was to determine if depression levels of grandparents raising their grandchildren and depression levels of traditional grandparents differ. Additionally, the extent of the relationship to depression scores by…

In May 2009, the MetLife Mature Market Institute conducted a nationwide survey of grandparents age 45 and older with grandchildren under the age of 25. This survey examined their attitudes and behaviors toward providing financial assistance and advice to their grandchildren and what effect the current economy is having on the assistance they are…

Using data collected from surveys completed by grandparents for their grandchildren (N = 72), this quantitative study examines the effects grandparent primary caregivers have on the reading achievement of their African American grandchildren. The study sought to answer the following question: How do the six types of parental involvement (Epstein,…

Grandparents of children with disabilities have an expanded grandparental role that can include performance of child care, raising the grandchildren, and in some instances taking legal custody of the grandchildren. Grandparents in the extended family of a child with a disability have needs that must be identified in order to facilitate the…

This report explores the need for and barriers to the use of mental health services among grandparent-caregiver families. Specifically, this study sought to determine: (1) how children in their grandparents' care are doing, and what their grandparents see as their service needs; (2) how the caregivers' needs--particularly unmet health or mental…

We examined patterns and predictors of perceived need, use, and unmet need for mental health services by custodial grandchildren within the school-based and community-based delivery sectors. Data were from a national sample of 610 grandmothers caring for grandchildren ages 6 to 17 in the absence of biological parents. Overlapping use of services…

First-generation Bangladeshi grandparents in the UK have consciously taken on the role of maintaining the linguistic and cultural identity of their grandchildren. Through their life experiences, they have built up "funds of knowledge" and skills that they are able to use to promote learning using strategies that are personalised and effective in…

Three empirical studies document the intuitive spillover of moral taint from a person who engages in immoral acts to another individual who is related by ties of blood kinship. In Study 1, participants were more likely to recommend that the biological grandchild of a wrongdoer, compared to a non-biological grandchild, help the descendants of his…

Barbara T. Bowman, MA, the Irving B. Harris Professor of Child Development at Erikson Institute, discusses the important roles that grandparents play in the lives of their grandchildren. Dr. Bowman offers suggestion for how to approach the grandparenting role, including setting boundaries, maintaining open communication, and valuing the…

This study examined adolescent grandchildren's contributions to caregiving for grandparents with Alzheimer's disease. It was predicted that grandchildren would provide more care when parents experienced greater burden, and when adolescents had higher quality relationships with parents and grandparents. It was also hypothesized that these factors…