Grandparental love: a challenge or richness?

Grandparenthood has changed dramatically: today’s grandparents are healthier than before, live longer, and are more educated than their antecedents. The purpose of this research was to find out how grandparenthood was perceived by grandparents themselves. The study comprised 12 Finnish grandparents, aged between 50 and 81, who participated in the research. The data were collected as letters and through interviews. The analysing method was data-driven qualitative content analysis. Grandparents’ experiences of grandparenthood were studied by focusing on the following themes: What kinds of changes does grandparenthood introduce in life; what kinds of resources does grandparenthood provide or involve; and what kinds of challenges does grandparenthood include?Grandparenthood was divided into four types that differ from each other in their relation to the amount of resources and adaptation of changes. Grandparental love can be seen as a central virtue enriching well-being by providing grandparents with strength.