The influence of a grandfather's disease process and death on the formation of personal identity in a granddaughter

Sellers, Debra M.; Milton, Maggie

doi:10.1016/j.jaging.2006.10.005

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 23 publications

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“…First, there is consensus that grandfathers socialize grandchildren to the dominant culture (Bates, 2009a;Bengtson, Copen, Putney, & Silverstein, 2009) and to family roles and responsibilities (Bates & Goodsell, forthcoming;Goodsell, Bates, & Behnke, 2011;Waldrop et al, 1999). Second, grandfathers serve an important supportive function for their children and grandchildren (Bates, 2009a;Sellers & Milton, 2007)-much like a safety line that can be extended when needed (Hagestad, 1985;Mann & Leeson, 2010). Grandfathers may offer support out of necessity, during times of individual and family crisis (Burton, 1992;Roberto, Allen, & Blieszner, 2001), or may attempt to support the typical development of grandchildren in the absence of parents (Bates & Goodsell, forthcoming;Chan, 2007).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grandfather Involvement and Aging Men’s Mental Health

Bates

Taylor

2012

Am J Mens Health

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The mental health of aging men is an understudied social issue. Although it is widely accepted that meaningful family relationships are associated with fewer depressive symptoms and greater positive affect, scholars have largely overlooked relationships between grandfathers and grandchildren as being beneficial to men's mental health. This study investigates the differences in the depressive symptoms and positive affect of 351 grandfathers. Using a cluster analytic technique, participants were categorized as involved, passive, and disengaged based on their frequency of contact, level of commitment, and participation in activities with grandchildren. Comparative analyses indicate that involved grandfathers had fewer depressive symptoms than disengaged grandfathers. Involved grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers, and passive grandfathers had significantly higher scores on positive affect than disengaged grandfathers. This study provides evidence that grandfather-grandchild relationships influence aging men's mental health. Implications for practitioners working with aging men are discussed.

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Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Grandfather Involvement and Aging Men’s Mental Health

Bates

Taylor

2012

Am J Mens Health

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“…In spiritual work, grandfathers offer advice about everyday sorts of problems and purvey comfort in times of crisis (King & Elder, 1999;Tinsley & Parke, 1988). Spiritual work may occur during family rituals with a group of people (Kivett, 1985) or occur in one-on-one situations with grandchildren (Sellers & Milton, 2007). For some grandfathers spiritual work is based on religious dogmas and practices, whereas for others guidance is not connected with a specific religion (Waldrop et al, 1999).…”

Section: Spiritual Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Generative Grandfathering: A Conceptual Framework for Nurturing Grandchildren

Bates

2009

Marriage & Family Review

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Empirical research on grandfatherÀgrandchild relationships is small and undeveloped and has not enjoyed systematic theory construction. The weak theory-research connections in the extant grandfather literature have resulted in a body of research that is not cohesive and lacks scope and depth. To address these criticisms, I propose here a conceptual framework for understanding and investigating grandfathering and grandfatherÀgrandchild relationships. The generative grandfathering framework was developed as a result of reviewing and making extrapolations from the growing literature on grandparents and a limited grandfather literature. It is hoped that this framework will be useful to scholars, practitioners, and policymakers in capturing the contributions that grandfathers and aging men make to grandchildren's lives.

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“…Lineage work is a type of re-involvement with a man's personal past (Kivnick, 1985(Kivnick, , 1986 and carries implications for his "immortality" through grandchildren as they carry on the family line through names and in memories (Thomas, 1989). Grandfathers bring the past to life in lineage work by recounting family events, telling their own life stories (Sellers & Milton, 2007), reciting names and dates, and by showing and discussing with grandchildren the family tree (Weber & Absher, 2003). Indeed, grandfathers are grandchildren's living link to their own family's history.…”

Section: Participation In Activitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The volume of scholarship on grandparenting, grandparenthood, and grandparent-grandchild relationships has grown substantially over the past four decades and provides evidence that emotionally close intergenerational relationships benefit grandparents and grandchildren (Copen & Silverstein, 2007;Ruiz & Silverstein, 2007;Oyserman, Radin, & Benn, 1993;Sellers & Milton, 2007). The patterns of relations also lend strong support to the notion that contemporary families value meaningful multigenerational bonds (Bengtson, 1975;Silverstein & Marenco, 2001;Taylor, Robila, & Lee, 2005).…”

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confidence: 91%

Grandfather Involvement: Contact Frequency, Participation in Activities, and Commitment

Bates¹,

Taylor²

2013

The Journal of Men’s Studies

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Notwithstanding the recent growth in scholarship about grandparents and the sustained interest in fatherhood, there has been limited attention paid to the study of grandfathers. Few strides have been made to understand grandfathering behaviors and attitudes, and little is known about the relationships grandfathers develop and maintain with grandchildren. We suggest one reason for this trend is the lack of theoretical and conceptual groundwork needed to assist scholars engaged in grandparent-grandchild research. To address this issue, we propose the construct grandfather involvement and define it as having three critical components: Contact frequency, participation in activities, and commitment. These components have been previously explored in the grandparent literature and in other literatures as essential elements of the development of meaningful and healthy relationships. Until now, however, they have not been formulated into a usable framework. Having a clear definitional understanding of grandfather involvement will allow scholars to utilize the concepts to increase empirical and theoretical scholarship on grandfathers.

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The influence of a grandfather's disease process and death on the formation of personal identity in a granddaughter

Cited by 10 publications

References 23 publications

Grandfather Involvement and Aging Men’s Mental Health

Grandfather Involvement and Aging Men’s Mental Health

Generative Grandfathering: A Conceptual Framework for Nurturing Grandchildren

Grandfather Involvement: Contact Frequency, Participation in Activities, and Commitment

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