Grandparents’ Expressed Affection for Their Grandchildren: Examining The Grandparents’ Own Psychological Health

Affection Exchange Theory postulates that affectionate communication may be beneficial to both senders and receivers. To test AET and to extend extant intergenerational communication research, the purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which grandparents’ expressions of affection for their grandchildren are associated with the grandparents’ own psychological health (i.e., loneliness, stress, and general mental health). A total of 104 grandparents completed several self-report scales. The results of zero-order Pearson correlations largely supported the predictions and therefore also bolster AET’s utility in the context of grandparent–grandchild relationships because it is the first study to test the theory from the grandparents’ perspective.