A comparison of stepgrandchildren's perceptions of long-term and later-life stepgrandparents.

Background: Multi-generational steprelationships are relatively common, and yet little is known about stepgrandparent-stepgrandchild relationships. The quality of steprelationships is relevant to understanding intergenerational support for older divorced and remarried adults.

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to examine and compare stepgrandchildren's perceptions of two types of intergenerational step-relationships - long-term stepgrandparents who joined the stepfamily before stepgrandchildren were born and later-life stepgrandparents who joined stepfamilies when they were older.

Research Design And Methods: Grounded theory methods were used to interview 48 adult stepgrandchildren who had 44 long-term stepgrandparents and 28 later-life stepgrandparents.

Results: Long-term stepgrandparents more closely resembled biological grandparents' relationships with stepgrandchildren than did later-life stepgrandparents, largely because of conditions attributable to intergenerational dynamics associated with remarriage timing, shared histories, and linked lives with other kin. Middle-generation parents gatekept more in long-term stepfamilies - later-life stepgrandchildren had greater autonomy in relationships with new stepgrandparents and everyone in later-life stepfamilies experienced family structural changes concurrently. Long-term stepgrandparents were defined as kin more often than later-life stepgrandparents. Long-term relationships were often perceived as positive and emotionally close.

Discussion And Implications: Later-life stepgrandchildren experience more intergenerational transitions than long-term stepgrandchildren. Appreciating and understanding the implications of different pathways to stepgrandparenthood will enhance science and practice with older stepfamily couples and intergenerational stepfamilies.