Extending the developmental niche model to studies of intergenerational co-parenting in China

Despite the global prevalence of grandparents' involvement in child care, research findings linking specific dimensions of involvement to children's outcomes remain inconsistent. Increasingly, studies on intergenerational co-parenting recognize the coordination between parents and grandparents but often assess the quality of relationships broadly rather than examining the specific settings, practices, and beliefs through which co-parenting unfolds. In this article, the author proposed extending the developmental niche model developed by Super and Harkness as an integrative framework for studying Chinese intergenerational co-parenting families. The model highlights how parents and grandparents jointly construct three interconnected subsystems of children's developmental ecology: physical and social settings, customs of care, and caretakers' psychology. Examining these subsystems and their transactions may clarify how sociocultural change and intergenerational negotiation shape caregiving and children's development.