Grandparental Involvement and Young Children’s Social-emotional Adaptation: A Longitudinal Study in China

Grandparents play a central role in early childcare in China, yet the potential drawbacks of their involvement remain understudied. This three-year longitudinal study aimed to examine the effects of grandparental involvement on young children's social-emotional adjustment and explored the mediating roles of children’s temperament and their attachment to parents. With the cooperation of a kindergarten in Shanghai, 130 parents completed a questionnaire survey once a year for three years (from grades 1 to 3). The questionnaire involved demographic information about the three generations, types of early childcare (categorized as full parental care, co-care, and full grandparental care), parent-child attachment (anxious-ambivalent attachment, AA), children’s characteristics (Sociability, Irritability) and social-emotional adaptation (using the SDQ, Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire). The results indicated that grandparental involvement had a significant positive correlation with AA/Irritability, especially for boys. Furthermore, the path model suggested that grandparental involvement in the early stage had an indirect effect on the children’s later social-emotional adaptation via AA and Irritability. Especially, parent-child attachment showed a significant mediating effect between grandparental involvement and children’s adaptation. The findings suggest that young parents should recognize the potential demerits brought by grandparental involvement so that they can make use of the advantages and avoid the demerits of grandparenting in childcare.