Parental Divorce, Residence Arrangements, and Contact Between Grandchildren and Grandparents

Twentieth-century family sociology has focused very much on the nuclear family and conjugal bonds (Bengtson, 2001; Segalen, 2010). Although there are notable exceptions (including Bengtson & Robertson, 1985, and Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1986), there has been much less research on grandparents. Attias-Donfut and Segalen (2007) argued that this emphasis is closely linked to the idea that raising children is the responsibility of the parents and that grandparents ought not to get involved too much.Grand parenthood has been receiving more attention in the literature in recent years (e.g., Arber & Timonen, 2012; Attias-Donfut & Segalen, 2007; Szinovacz, 1998). At least two social developments may be connected with this upturn of scientific interest. First, demographic changes of the past few decades have given more room to grandparent-grandchild relations. Greater longevity implies that more people now become a grandparent and often survive into the adult life span of their grandchildren. At the same time, lower fertility rates in subsequent generations translate into a lower ratio of grandchildren to grandparents and potential greater time and attention for each grandchild (Arber & Timonen, 2012; Szinovacz, 1998; Uhlenberg & Kirby, 1998). A second major development involves the widespread increase in divorce rates. The implication of divorce for grandparent-grandchild relationships is the focus of this study.Some scholars note that divorce may raise the risk of extended family ties being weakened, or even severed (Attias-Donfut & Segalen, 2007; Dykstra & Komter, 2012; Timonen, Doyle, & O'Dwyer, 2009), but others emphasize that the vulnerability of conjugal relations and nuclear families makes intergenerational family ties become ever more important to fulfill essential family functions. In this sense, the rise in divorce rates is expected to raise the involvement of grandparents in supporting and socializing grandchildren (Bengtson, 2001; Johnson, 1998; Thompson, 1999).Scientific evidence on the implications of a parental divorce for grandparent-grandchild relations is limited. The existing literature suggests that grandparents may be an important source of support for their grandchildren, particularly in times of a family crisis such as a parental divorce. They may provide practical and financial help as well as emotional stability (Bridges, Roe, Dunn, & O'Connor, 2007; Ferguson, 2004). In regard to children, some studies have shown that a close relationship with grandparents is associated with lower levels of psychological adjustment problems after parental divorce (Henderson, Hayslip, Sanders, & Louden, 2009; Lussier, Deater-Deckard, Dunn, & Davies, 2002). Conversely, for grandparents, disruption of contact with grandchildren has been found to have an adverse impact on emotional health (Doyle, O'Dywer, & Timonen, 2010; L. M. Drew & Silverstein, 2007).Exchange of support between grandparents and grandchildren is strongly conditioned by the frequency of face-to-face contact. Contact increases the likelihood of exchange of help in kind, not only because it reduces the costs of giving help but also because it makes the support provider aware of the recipient's needs (Dykstra & Fokkema, 2011). The existing studies have reported less frequent contact between grandparents and grandchildren following parental divorce. This is particularly the case for paternal grandparents, which is also the group most at risk for losing all contact (Creasey, 1993; L. A. Drew & Smith, 1999; Geurts, Poortman, van Tilburg, & Dykstra, 2009; Jaskowski & Dellasega, 1993; Kemp, 2007; Myers & Perrin, 1993; Oppelaar & Dykstra, 2004). For contacts with maternal grandparents, some studies have reported no impact of divorce (Cooney & Smith, 1996; Henderson et al., 2009), and Ehrenberg and Smith (2003) even found higher contact frequency between grandchildren and maternal grandmothers after divorce. …