“Like My Grandparent, But Not”: A Qualitative Investigation of Skip‐Generation Stepgrandchild–Stepgrandparent Relationships

• Author: Marilyn Coleman,Lawrence Ganong,Ashton Chapman
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12303
• Date: 01 June 2016
• Published date: 01 June 2016

A C, M C,  L G University of Missouri—

Columbia

“Like My Grandparent, But Not”: A Qualitative

Investigation of Skip-Generation

Stepgrandchild–Stepgrandparent Relationships

Families have become increasingly diverse and

complex, which has made dening family mem-

bership more ambiguous. Issues surrounding

family identity, belonging, and shared kin-

ship are relevant in many types of complex

families, but they are critically important for

stepfamilies. In this study the authors examined

stepgrandchild–stepgrandparent relationships;

specically, they explored how 27 stepgrand-

children (Mage=20.8) thought and felt about

their relationships with 35 skip-generation

stepgrandparents (i.e., stepgrandparents who

did not help raise stepgrandchildren’s parents

but who have been in the lives of stepgrand-

children from birth or early childhood). Most

stepgrandchild–stepgrandparent relationships

(n=24/35) were described as emotionally close

and supportive. Stepgrandchildren who per-

ceived stepgrandparents as fullling traditional

grandparent roles and whose parents modeled

and facilitated warm, close relationships with

stepgrandparents were most likely to perceive

these intergenerational steprelationships as

important. The ndings have implications for

kinship identication in diverse and complex

families.

Department of Human Development and Family Science,

314 Gentry Hall, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO

65211 (alcmkb@mail.missouri.edu).

This article was edited by Kevin M. Roy.

Key Words: family interaction, grandpar-

ents/grandparenthood, intergenerational relations, kinship,

stepfamilies.

Families have become increasingly diverse and

complex (Brown, Manning, & Stykes, 2015;

Cherlin, 2010). This diversity and complexity

have led to changes in how kinship, or fam-

ily membership, is dened (Braithwaite et al.,

2010). Traditional indicators of kinship, such

as biological and legal ties, are still important,

but family membership now is often socially

constructed, dened by affective indicators

(e.g., love, affection, close emotional ties)

and instrumental connections (e.g., feelings

of loyalty and obligation because of resources

received). For diverse and complexfamilies, kin

membership is not always easily determined by

outsiders and may even be a source of confusion

and ambiguity for family members (Braithwaite

et al., 2010; King, Boyd, & Thorsen, 2015).

Issues surrounding family identity,belonging,

and shared kinship are relevant in many types

of complex families (e.g., adoptive, gay and les-

bian, assisted reproductive technology), but they

are critically important for stepfamilies because

relational ties in stepfamilies may be quite

convoluted. Stepfamilies often contain genetic

kin (e.g., parents and children, half-siblings,

grandparents and grandchildren), legal kin (e.g.,

husbands and wives, parents and children), and

step-kin (stepparents and stepchildren, stepsib-

lings, stepgrandparents and stepgrandchildren).

In stepfamilies, family identity and beliefs

about shared kinship are related to the quality

of relationships (Coleman, Ganong, Russell, &

Frye, 2015; King et al., 2015; Suanet, van der

Pas, & van Tilburg, 2013) and to individuals’

634 Journal of Marriage and Family 78 (June 2016): 634–643

DOI:10.1111/jomf.12303