grandparents relationship in detail
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An overwhelming amount of psychology and social science research is devoted to parent-child dynamics. But even in our nuclear-family age, that’s not the only bond children have with adults. In the last year, significant new findings have emerged to shed light on the important benefits of children’s relationships with their grandparents — for the people on both sides of the equation.
A study by Boston College researchers found that emotionally close ties between grandparents and adult grandchildren reduced depressive symptoms in both groups. The study, published online last year in the journal The Gerontologist, included 374 grandparents and 356 adult grandchildren who were taking part in a larger study. The researchers looked at data collected over a 19-year period.
Close grandparent-grandchild relationships are often a marker of strong family ties overall, but these intergenerational bonds also come with their own distinctive benefits, said lead author Sara Moorman, an associate professor of sociology at Boston College. As people are living longer, these bonds are becoming even more important.