Understanding adolescent grandchildren’s influence on their grandparents

Abstract

Grandparents have long been studied as agents of socialization and the mutually of the grandparent-grandchild influence has been overlooked. This chapter focuses the forgotten socialization agent of the dyad: grandchildren. Based on empirical work, the chapter describes how adolescent grandchildren, acting as buddies, companions, carers, or playmates impact on the grandparents’ health behaviours, use of IT or perception of contemporary phenomena. It is also discussed how in a time of profound changes on family, these non-adjacent generations’ relationships are more egalitarian, and also less dependent on the middle generation, parents.