Research also suggests that parental divorce has mixed effects on grandparent-grandchild relationships. Depending on which parent is awarded custody, the grandchild's relationship with his or her grandparents can be either positively or negatively affected. Results of cross-sectional research by Creasey (1993), using a sample comprised of mostly (85%) custodial mothers, suggest that adolescent grandchildren from divorced families have less satisfactory relationships with their paternal grandparents when compared to adolescent grandchildren from intact families. Fortunately, amount of contact -- both physical and phone -- helped to mitigate the negative effects of divorce on grandchild-paternal grandparent relationships (Creasey, 1993). Similarly, cross-sectional research on 30 single-mother and 30 single-father middle-class families found that divorce leads to a lower frequency of contact between the grandchild and paternal grandparents when the mother was awarded custody, and a lower frequency of contact between the grandchild and maternal grandparents with the father was awarded custody (Hilton & Macari, 1997). Numerous studies report similar results for divorce on grandchild-grandparent relationships (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1986; Gladstone, 1991; Johnson, 1988; Kivett, 1991; Myers & Perrin, 1993). In short, following a divorce, the relationship is likely to be strained between the grandchildren and the grandparents of the adult child who did not gain custody.

Additionally, research on the effects of divorce on grandchild-grandparent relationships suggests that grandchildren of divorced, single-parent families report higher levels of closeness with the parents of their custodial parents and are more likely to turn to them for support than are grandchildren of two-parent families. Cross-sectional research on 391 late-adolescents revealed that adolescents from single-parent families reported higher levels of closeness and support from their grandparents on the custodial parent side when compared to adolescents from intact, two-parent families (Kennedy & Kennedy, 1993). Additional cross-sectional research using a nationally representative sample of grandparents found that in times of family distress, such as divorce, grandparents report extending higher levels of emotional support as well as parent-like behavior toward their grandchildren (Cherlin & Furstenberg, 1986). The grandparents on the custodial parent's side also reported seeing their grandchildren more after a divorce. Finally, longitudinal research, based on 186 early adolescents from white, middle-class families, found that children in single-parent families were more likely to report closer relationships with their maternal grandparents than were children from two-parent families (Clingempeel, Colyar, Brand, & Hetherington, 1992).

Despite numerous studies supporting the relationship between divorce and grandchild-grandparent relationships mentioned above, however, one study using the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) found that children's closeness and amount of contact with both paternal and maternal grandparents was not affected by separation or divorce (Gravenish & Thomson, 2001). Utilizing a national sample of over 13,000 families measure over time, Gravenish and Thomson (2001) were able to include data on children's contact with grandparents as reported by both parents and the child. It should be noted, however, that Gravenish and Thomson (2001) studied the effects of divorce and separation whereas the studies mentioned above focused only on divorce. In all, around one-third of the families studied were not actually divorced, but merely separated.