Strengths and needs of working-class African-American and Anglo-American grandparents

This study examined gender and racial differences in the grandparenting strengths and needs of working class grandparents. A total of 192 African-American and Anglo-American grandmothers and grandfathers from the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area were administered the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory. Grandmothers perceived themselves to be significantly more involved in teaching their grandchildren and significantly more successful in the grandparent role than grandfathers. African-American grandparents perceived themselves to be significantly more involved in teaching their grandchildren than Anglo-American grandparents, but were also significantly more likely than their Anglo-American counterparts to express frustration and need for information about the grandparenting role. A significantly greater percentage of African-American grandparents expressed interest in taking a grandparent education course than Anglo-American grandparents. Implications of the findings for grandparent education are discussed.