Through the Eyes of Grandchildren: The Perceived Benefits and Challenges in Maintaining Grandparents–Grandchildren Relationship: A Qualitative Study

During the conventional days, grandparents were considered as a strong pillar of the family structure, who are regarded as very supportive and helpful in raising the children and to lead a chaos free family life. But in this contemporary world, the presence of grandparents is being estimated with the pros and cons associated with aging. Like adolescent people, the elderly population also undergoes lots of changes physically, emotionally, and socially, which goes unaddressed. In a same family some perceive grandparents as treasure whereas few may consider them as burden. World Health Organization (WHO) states that globally 1 in 2 people are having ageist attitude. Ageism affects the intergenerational solidarity that creates the need to address this issue. This study aims to find out the perceived benefits and challenges in maintaining grandparents–grandchildren relationship from the perspective of grandchildren. Exploratory research was done using Qualitative study design. In the present study, samples consisted of 24 grandchildren who were aged between 18 and 30 years and categorized into two groups among which 11 participants co-reside with their grandparents and 13 participants non-co-reside with their grandparents. The samples were drawn using purposive sampling technique. The qualitative data was collected using semi-structured interviews. The responses derived were synthesized using content analysis. The analysis shows that co-residing participants tend to emphasize more on emotional closeness and formative influence whereas non-co-residing participants appreciate support and guidance from a distance.