ABSTRACT
This chapter explores communication in extended family relationships beginning with a look at how factors like age, culture, gender, geographic distance, and technology influence contact and closeness. In a review of grandparent–grandchild communication, we show the varied roles of grandparents, including grandparents who are primary caretakers of grandchildren. We examine what grandparents and grandchildren talk about, how they maintain their relationship, how stereotypes about aging influence grandchildren’s perceptions of their grandparents, as well as how divorce affects grandparenting. The chapter also focuses on communication in the adult child–parent relationship. Some adults appreciate that they now can relate to their parents in a voluntary, egalitarian, or distant way. Other adult children maintain considerable contact with parents, rely on them for a great deal of support, and participate in at least some degree of caregiving to the parents who once cared for them. Finally, we examine the complexities of in-law relationships. This analysis shows that the quality of the in-law relationship is positively related to the quality of the marital relationship. Even though some people experience strained or ambivalent feelings about their in-laws, some families communicate in ways that help in-laws feel like a part of the shared family identity.
