Grandparents' Affectionate Communication toward Grandchildren and Grandchildren's Mental Health Difficulties: The Moderating Role of Future Time Perspective.

Given that grandparent-grandchild relationships often last for several decades of grandchildren's lives, it becomes important to examine how grandparents' affectionate communication might be associated with their adult grandchildren's mental well-being. Using a sample of college-aged grandchildren ( = 401), this study examined whether or not grandparents' affectionate communication is indirectly associated with grandchildren's loneliness, depressive symptoms, and stress, via shared family identity. It also considered whether or not grandchildren's assessments of their grandparents' futures as expansive versus restricted moderated these associations. Affectionate communication was indirectly associated with less loneliness via heightened shared family identity, but only for grandchildren who judged grandparents' futures as expansive. These findings suggest the importance of healthy grandparents conveying to grandchildren that their lives as older adults are still full of possibilities and open to new growth.