Grandparents Know Best? A Study on Grandparents being the Primary Caregiver to the Child and the Social Development of the Child.

Abstract

This research takes on the issue of grandparents being the primary caregiver or the parent of their grandchildren and its relationship with the social development of children aged seven (7) to twelve (12). The objective of this research is to discover the relationship between grandparents serving as the parents to their grandchild to the social development of the children. Furthermore, the research aimed to answer three specific objectives: (1) to identify if there are any developmental delays in the social behavior (social skills) of the children approached; (2) to identify if the child has a healthy social development under the care of his/her grandparents; (3) to discover the prevalent grandparenting skill of grandparents; and (4) to identify how developed the social skills of the children in the approached households. The theoretical frameworks used to support this research are the following: 1) Bronfenbrenner’s Contexts for Development - The Microsystem; 2) Dianne Baurmind's Parenting Styles Theory; and 3) Socio-Cultural Theory. All the gathered theories are connected and are ensured to support this research. The researcher purposively chose households that satisfied the following criteria namely: 1) the grandparent must be fifty (50) years old and above; and 2) the child must be within the agerange of seven (7) to twelve (12) years. The researcher used the quantitative method of research through cross-sectional descriptive design, since two variables were being cross-validated to find the relationship between them. Snowball sampling or chain sampling was utilized in this research, since there is no data regarding the number of such households in the Angono Municipal Hall. This research made use a self-made, pre-tested survey questionnaire. The findings of the study are as follows: there is a significant association between grandparents as the primary caregiver to the child to the social development of the child. Moreover, the study also found out that the most prevalent parenting style among the approached households is the permissive parenting style.