Posted on: Wednesday, June 5, 2002

Divorce of grandparents can hurt grandkids, too

By Karen S. Peterson
USA Today

Much has been written about the effect on families when parents divorce.

Now, new research shows that when grandparents split, both they and their grandchildren may suffer.

Grandparents who divorce don't have as much contact with their grandkids, feel less close to them and consider the role of grandparent less important to their lives, according to a small, government-supported research project headed by Valarie King at Pennsylvania State University. They also have weaker ties with their own adult children, who control access to the grandkids.

The distressing news is not true for all grandparents, says King, with Penn State's Population Research Institute.

"Certainly, many grandparents who have experienced a divorce are involved with their grandchildren, and a grandparent's marital history is only one of many factors influencing grandparenting," she says.

But her findings are disconcerting.

She expects the effects of divorce among future grandparents will "explode" in 10 to 20 years, as those who are divorcing now become grandparents. "We will see the effects heighten in our next generation of elders."

Not all aspects of grandparenting are affected by divorce, however. Post-divorce grandparents are just as likely as still-marrieds to stay involved in their grandchildren's future, if only by telephone, trying to help parents plan for their grandchildren's tomorrows.

Grandparents who are divorced and worried about keeping close ties with their grandchildren can try a variety of options, says Amy Goyer, coordinator of the Grandparent Information Center run by the AARP, formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons.

She advises grandparents to keep in touch using the telephone. E-mail, instant messaging, digital cameras and videos can all help with keeping in touch, too.

"It is really important to keep up with a child's life, knowing about that soccer game next Tuesday or the test coming up. Then follow up afterwards."

King's research on grandparents who divorce is partially financed by the National Institute of Mental Health. Her team studied 538 grandparent-grandchild relationships including 45 divorced grandparents, using subjects found through the Iowa Youth and Families Project launched in 1987 by Iowa State University.

Her study sample of the divorced is small, but fits in, she says, with fragmentary research done nationally. She presented her research at a recent conference of the Population Association of America in Atlanta.