THREE-GENERATIONAL RELATIONS AND PARENTING PRACTICES: DOES INTERGENERATIONAL PARENTING COALITION MATTER?

摘要

Intergenerational parenting coalition, where parents and grandparents jointly take care of grandchildren, has been increasingly considered as a family strategy to fulfill childcare commitment in urban Chinese families. This study applied a dyadic perspective to investigate the association between perceptions of three-generational relations and parenting practices for parents and grandparents. We also examined its variation depending on different kinship statuses of parent-grandparent co-parenting partners. We utilized data from 495 parent-grandparent dyads as joint child caregivers. Parents and grandparents provided separate ratings of three-generational relations and their own childcare involvement in child’s academic socialization. Actor-Partner Inderdependence Model was applied to analyze the bilateral influences of parents and grandparents within parenting coalitions. Results showed that parents’ good perception of three-generational relations was linked to their more childcare involvement only when their own parents worked with them in the co-parenting coalitions. In contrast, such a positive association held for grandparents regardless of kinship status of parent-grandparent partners. When mothers and their parents-in-law worked together, the latter’s good perception of relationship was positively associated with mothers’ childcare involvement. Findings highlight the importance of considering both parents’ and grandparents’ perceptions in understanding linkages between three-generational relations and parenting practice. They also indicated the interdependence within intergenerational parenting coalition, especially for in-law relationships in Chinese families.