Adaptation and Validation of the Grandparental Involvement Inventory-Chinese Version (GII-C) in Migrant Families

Background and Purpose: Grandparental involvement is a multidimensional framework of the roles that grandparents play in a child’s life. However, measurement of grandparental involvement is underdeveloped, particularly among middle-childhood children. This study adapts and validates a self-report measure of grandparental involvement for children in Chinese migrant families.

Method: Participants were recruited from 30 elementary schools in a major labor-sending county of southwest China. A total of 775 children (mean age = 11) completed the adapted 19-item Grandparental Involvement Inventory-Chinese version (GII-C), while their grandparents (mean age = 63) reported their acceptance and rejection of the child using the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (PARQ). Child-perceived attachment with grandparents and their mental health outcomes were also collected, with the Inventory of Parents and Peer Attachment-Revised (IPPA-R), Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (DASS), UCLA Loneliness Scale, and Child & Youth Resilience Measure-Revised (CYRM-R). In addition, we collected demographic information from children (sex, age, and parental migration status) and grandparents (sex, age, lineage, self-rated physical health, educational level, and family income).

Results: Our item analysis and exploratory factor analysis suggested a shortened, 17-item scale with three factors: Company and Shared Activities, Mentorship and Instrumental Assistance, and Intimacy and Closeness. This factor structure showed a good fit in confirmatory factor analysis (χ² = 256.92, df = 116, p < .001; TLI = 0.93, CFI = 0.94, RMSEA = 0.06, SRMR = 0.05). The GII-C showed adequate reliability (Cronbach’s α = 0.89, McDonald’s ω = 0.91) and convergent validity. Grandparental involvement showed positive correlations with grandparental acceptance of the child and grandparent–grandchild attachment, as well as a negative correlation with grandparental rejection. Subgroup and regression analyses further indicated the GII-C’s known-group validity and predictive ability of child mental health outcomes. Grandparental involvement, especially the Intimacy and Closeness domain, was positively associated with child psychological wellbeing and resilience while negatively associated with child depression, anxiety, stress, and loneliness.

Conclusion and Implication: This study employs a child-centered approach by yielding insights derived from the children themselves. Our findings suggest the GII-C as a valid tool to measure grandparents’ multi-faceted roles beyond childcare. Future research should replicate the GII-C in multigenerational families across cultural contexts.