The role of grandparents in the family

The first nationwide survey of youth relations with grandparents showed that grandparents involved in the nurturing process can contribute to their happiness and well-being.

The work by Oxford University, in collaboration with the Institute of Educational Research, London, challenged a previous work that said grandparents who were too attached to caring for their grandchildren could become weak and cause negative effects. young.

This work examines the questionnaire from 1,596 children, ages 11 to 16 across England and Wales, and researchers also conduct detailed interviews with 40 children with different circumstances. Another important finding of this work is that nearly one-third of grandmothers take care of their grandchild regularly, with about 40% occasionally helping take care of them.

The survey revealed that grandparents often spend more time with children in more activities than their parents and are willing to talk to them about any problems young people often face. They also often involve helping children solve their own problems as well as talking about their future plans.

The principal investigator, Professor Ann Buchanan, Director of the Center for Research on Parents and Children, Department of Social and Social Policy at Oxford University, will make the findings of this work at the regular meeting. Parents' Year in London on June 4.

Grandparents spend a lot of time caring for him.(Photo: www.physorg.com )

Professor Buchanan said, 'We were amazed at the level of care our grandparents provided to our children and in some cases, filling the vacancies of working parents. Most young people really welcome this relationship. What is particularly interesting is the relationship we discovered between grandparents who take care of their grandchildren and the situation of young people. Intimacy is not enough: only grandparents who really spend time and work with new children have a positive effect on children. '

Co-researcher, Dr. Eirini Flouri, Institute of Educational Research, said: 'We found close relationships between grandparents and grandchildren reducing the impact of negative events such as farewell parents. , because they soothe the child. This means that future investigations should focus more on the role of grandparents in developing the resilience of adolescents. '

A series of predictors of grandparents' involvement in grandchildren include: living in an area not too needy, regular contact and good health of grandparents. Young people surveyed do not see geographical distance as important because they communicate with modern technology. They said they felt they were closer when they took on some of their parents' duties.

This work also shows that sometimes families break down or break up, many grandparents play an important role in bringing stability to them. Grandparents play a very important role in times of family difficulties and often help the whole family overcome.

Researchers conclude that because of the grandparents' role is almost invisible in British family policy, the government needs to reconsider policy adoption for a more positive and supportive role in the relationship. system interweaving these important generations.