Grandfather Involvement: Contact Frequency,Participation in Activities,and Commitment

Notwithstanding the recent growth in scholarship about grandparents and the sustained interest in fatherhood, there has been limited attention paid to the study of grandfathers. Few strides have been made to understand grandfathering behaviors and attitudes, and little is known about the relationships grandfathers develop and maintain with grandchildren. We suggest one reason for this trend is the lack of theoretical and conceptual groundwork needed to assist scholars engaged in grandparent-grandchild research. To address this issue, we propose the construct grandfather involvement and define it as having three critical components: Contact frequency, participation in activities, and commitment. These components have been previously explored in the grandparent literature and in other literatures as essential elements of the development of meaningful and healthy relationships. Until now, however, they have not been formulated into a usable framework. Having a clear definitional understanding of grandfather involvement will allow scholars to utilize the concepts to increase empirical and theoretical scholarship on grandfathers.