Grandparents , Adolescents , and Parents : Intergenerational Relations of Taiwanese Youth

This paper examines intergenerational relations in Taiwan with a major focus on how the relations between second and third generations may be affected by prior family experiences between first, second and third generations. As a typical patriarchal family system, lineage differences regarding the effects of three-generation households on intergenerational relations are explored. Panel data from the Taiwan Youth Project of 2500 7th graders in 2000 in northern Taiwan show that half of teenagers were raised in a co-residence living arrangement with grandparents. Results confirm that relations between grandparents and parents as well as between grandparents and grandchildren do affect parent-teenager relations. Notably, the early family experience of being cared for by paternal grandparents produces significant positive effects on adolescent-parent relations, and negative adolescent-father relations if cared for by maternal grandparents. It is suggested that the impact of an earlier family process on subsequent family relations is worth further investigation.