Grandparental Involvement in Chinese Intergenerational Coparenting: A Digital Collage-Assisted Interview Study of Adolescents' Experiences

In multigenerational families in China, grandparents typically share child-rearing responsibilities with parents, but little is currently known about how adolescents experience this arrangement. Using the Process Model of Family Functioning (PMFF) in seven essential dimensions, this study observed how teenagers understood grandparental contribution in family interactions and connected it with family relationships and their experience of happiness. Seven participants who were being interviewed aged 15–18, all living with their parents and grandparents, took part in online interviews (Tencent Meeting). Thematic analysis mainly identified three themes: task accomplishment and role performance in daily care; communication and emotional expression during family conflicts; and teenagers' interpretations of how grandparental contribution how to impact their experience of happiness. Grandparents directly managed daily routines but had less authority over educational decisions. For instance, during conflicts they explained both sides and spoke for participants, though they could not always change parents' decisions. In addition, participants often experienced warmth from those caring and understood reasonable discipline as care. Finally, these findings suggest that interactions between grandparents and teenagers, as well as the teenagers' interpretations of these interactions, jointly shape the meaning of grandparental involvement.