The Association Between Grandparental Involvement And Adolescent Psychological Well-Being Independent Of Parental Involvement
Background and objective: Grandparents have the potential to play a supportive and nurturing role in the lives of their grandchildren. Grandparents have always had an important role to play in South African society. Traditionally, developmental psychology has not focussed much attention on the role grandparents have to play in the adjustment of children and adolescents. The current study aimed to determine: (a) whether there is an association between grandparental involvement and adolescent well-being; and (b) whether that association remained when parental involvement was taken into consideration. Method: Cross-sectional survey data was collected from a convenience sample of 217 adolescents, aged 13 to 15 years of age. Grade eight and Grade nine learners were purposively selected from a single school. Correlational and multiple regression analyses tested relationships between a grandparent involvement measure, scores on the five sub-scales of the self-rated version of the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ) for 11- to 17-year-olds, and a parental involvement measure. The SDQ was used for the measure of adolescent well-being.