ABSTRACT
Social support networks of custodial grandparents are often fragile due to social isolation, lack of a peer cohort, and a multitude of family tribulations which plague skipped generation households. As a result, grandchildren and grandparents within these households become reliant on one another for support. The mutual exchange of instrumental and emotional support between the grandchildren and grandparents within skipped generation households may contribute to the positive adaptation to the demands of being custodial grandparents. One hundred and three custodial grandparents were asked a series of open-ended questions regarding their relationships with their grandchildren. Regardless of the age of the child(ren), over half of the custodial grandparents identified specific ways in which their grandchildren provided ongoing support to them. The mutual support between grandparents and grandchildren that occurs within skipped generation households is often not discussed and understudied. Gaining insight into how grandfamilies support one another within their households is critical to designing better programs that assist these families. Focusing on the adaptive means by which family members within skipped generation households cope will lead to the development of sustainable interventions that values and supports grandfamilies' interdependence.
