Abstract:

This survey-based study examines Turkish grandparents’ relationships with their grandchildren, both from their own perspectives and from those of the children’s parents. A Parent Question Form, Grandparent Question Form and Personal Information Form were used to collect data from 484 grandparents and 484 parents. The grandparents tended to agree with items suggesting 1) that grandparenting was like parenting; 2) that before having a grandchild, they had not imagined they would experience the feelings they were experiencing now; 3) that they loved their grandchildren more than anything in the world; and 4) that they enjoyed playing with their grandchildren and telling them fairy tales more than the children’s parents agreed. They also were more likely than the sampled parents to agree with the statements that, nowadays, people decided to have children later in life, and that grandparents tolerated their grandchildren more than they did their own children. However, the parents were more likely than the grandparents to agree that parents spend an inadequate amount of time with their children.

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