A qualitative study: Grandmothers and mothers are (not) on the same page for grandchildren

22nd European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Vilniaus, Litvanya, 25 - 29 Ağustos 2025, ss.412, (Özet Bildiri)

The dynamics between grandmothers and mothers are important regarding their parenting

and grandchildren’s development. The previous literature reveals some cooperation and

conflict situations between grandmothers and mothers, particularly in the early ages of

grandchildren. Although a few studies focused on the frequency of dyads’ cooperation and

conflict, researchers did not thoroughly dwell on the content of this issue. The current study

aimed to explore grandchild-related themes that mothers and grandmothers agree or disagree

with each other, as well as the themes of resolution to their disagreements. Online semi-

structured interviews were conducted with forty-one Turkish grandmothers (Agemean = 59.29,

SD = 4.81) who have a 48-72-month-old grandchild. Thematic analysis was used to assess

grandmothers’ answers to the agreement, disagreement and resolution questions in the

interview. The results revealed two main themes in the grandmother-mother agreement.

While 58.6% of the contents belong to the first theme, “care for the grandchild” (including

diet, health, etc.), 41.4% of them belong to the second theme, “rearing practices for the

grandchild” (including rules, values, etc.). In the grandmother-mother disagreement, two

main themes were also defined. While 53.3% of the issues belong to the first theme, “care

for the grandchild” (including diet, education, etc.), 46.7% of them belong to the second

theme, “rearing practices for the grandchild” (including being mad at the grandchild, spoiling

the grandchild, etc.). Finally, in their resolutions of disagreement, three main themes were

defined. 59.1% of the resolutions belong to the first theme, “reconciliation”, 22.7% of the

resolutions belong to the second theme, “disregarding other” (either mother or grandmot-

her), and 18.2% of the resolutions belong to the third theme, “no solution” (ignorance,

avoidance, etc.). The findings contribute to the related literature by developing new measures

to test grandmother-mother cooperation and conflict, and grandmother-mother-grandchild

relations in Turkish culture.