Navigating Interdependence: How Adolescents Raised Solely by Grandparents Experience Their Family Relationships

This study examined how adolescents raised solely by grandparents navigated their relationships with their parents and grandparents and how these relationships were influenced by the caregiving context. Forty-one adolescents participated in qualitative, semistructured interviews. Findings suggest that relationships with parents were primarily companionate or marked by distance and distrust. Grandchildren had strong emotional bonds to their grandparents, although they also negotiated several sources of stress. Participants also reported feelings of gratitude because of the positive influence their grandparents had on their lives. Caregiving context shaped grandchildren's interdependence with their parents and grandparents in numerous ways. Findings highlight the complexity of grandchildren's family relationships and underscore the value of a systemic approach to understanding youth who are being raised by grandparents. Key Words: adolescence, family systems, grandchildren, grandparents raising grandchildren, kinship care. According to the U.S. Census, 6.5 million or 9% of children younger than 18 years are living in homes that include at least one grandparent (Kreider, 2008). Of these households, the greatest growth has occurred among those in which neither parent is present (Casper & Bryson, 1998). Today, at least 1.6 million children live in their grandparents' homes without either parent (Kreider). Children are raised by grandparents because of parental difficulties such as substance abuse, incarceration, abuse and neglect, abandonment, HIV/AIDS, mental illness, divorce, and death (Roe & Minkler, 1998). Because of at least one of these circumstances, grandchildren come to their grandparents' care through a child welfare agency, by informal arrangement, or via legal guardianship or adoption (Messing, 2006). This transition may be sudden or gradual and may occur soon after birth or later in life. Although the number of children raised by grandparents has more than doubled in the past 30 years (Lugaila & Overturf, 2004), researchers have continued to focus more on grandparents than on their grandchildren. When grandchildren have been considered, the emphasis has been on how their behavior problems impact grandparents' well-being (e.g., Hayslip, Shore, Henderson, & Lambert, 1998; Pruchno & McKenney, 2002) or on their adjustment, as reported by grandparents (e.g., Billing, Ehrle, & Kortenkamp, 2002; Smith & Palmieri, 2007; Solomon & Marx, 1995). What has been neglected is research examining grandchildren's own perceptions. Although gaining insight into grandchildren's experiences is essential to a more comprehensive understanding of families in which grandparents are raising grandchildren, understanding grandchildren becomes even more important given evidence mat children raised by grandparents are at increased risk for emotional and behavioral problems (Smith & Palmieri) and compromised emotional well-being in adulthood (Carpenter & Clyman, 2004). Thus, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how grandchildren being raised solely by grandparents experience their family relationships. Specifically, the study examined interdependence, defined as how grandchildren navigated their relationships with both their parents and grandparents, among a sample of early to late adolescents. A secondary purpose was to explore linkages among the caregiving context, grandchildren's development, and grandchildren's experiences of interdependence. SENSITIZING CONCEPTS AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK Families in which grandparents are raising grandchildren are not monolithic. Therefore, in this study, grandparents raising grandchildren refers to grandparents who are primarily responsible for their grandchildren's care and who are not coresiding witii their grandchildren's parents. In the literature review, grandchildren denotes children aged 18 years and younger who are being raised by a grandparent. …