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Abstract The study examined the effects on parental stress and perceptions of child behavior of an intergenerational family intervention that involved grandparents in the therapeutic process, a family intervention without grandparents, and a control group. It was expected that family therapy with grandparents would (a) reduce the amount of stress reported by parents in their parenting role more than therapy without grandparents, and (b) result in grandparents' perceptions of improvements in their grandchildren's behavior. Eighteen families were randomly assigned to the experimental groups. Subjects included parents and their children, aged 2 to 6 years, and either maternal or paternal grandparents. The results showed that grandparents had a positive influence on their children's treatment of their grandchildren, but they did not change their perceptions of their grandchildren's behavior. It was concluded that grandparents may be an important source of emotional support and may exert a positive influence in changing family systems.
Merle D. Griff (Mon,) studied this question.