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Contents : Journal of Communication Autumn 2000 Communication Media Use in the Grandparent-Grandchild Relationship By Jake Harwood This study surveyed college-aged grandchildren as to the frequency of their communication with a grandparent using various media. Face-to-face (FtF) and telephone communication were used more frequently than written media but all were used fairly frequently. Communication using all media was more frequent when the grandparent or grandchild initiated interaction as opposed to the parent. Relationships in which the grandparent initiated contact featured more use of written media (letters e-mail cards). Frequency of communication using all media was positively associated with relational quality. Telephone communication best predicted relational quality when use of other media was controlled. In this paper I discuss implications for media richness theory the communication predicament of aging model and future research on grandparent-grandchild relationships. This paper examines the grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) relationship in the context of a growing literature concerning communication between older and younger adults that has enlightened us as to the processes and problems of such communication. The work of Hummert and her colleagues has provided new insights on the nature of intergenerational stereotypes and their role in influencing communication in intergenerational settings featuring elderly people (Hummert 1994 Hummert Shaner Garstka & Henry 1998 see also Harwood McKee & Lin 2000). Ryan Giles and their colleagues have provided important information concerning the determinants and consequences of patronizing speech in such settings (Harwood & Giles 1996 Ryan Giles Bartolucci & Henwood 1986). Giles and collaborators have provided information on cross-cultural dimensions to the intergenerational communication process (Williams et al. 1997). Finally N. Coupland J. Coupland and their coworkers have provided insights into the discoursal management of intergenerational relations (Coupland Coupland & Jake Harwood (PhD University of California Santa Barbara 1994) is an associate professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Kansas. He is interested in the role of interpersonal and mass communication in life-span development. His recent work has been published in Communication Monographs the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships and the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. The author expresses his thanks to two anonymous reviewers for their comments on this paper. Copyright 2000 International Communication Association 56 Grandparent-Grandchild Media Use Giles 1991). These literatures are comprehensively reviewed by Nussbaum and Coupland (1995). The communication predicament of aging model (Ryan et al. 1986) has provided a basis for much of the literature on intergenerational communication particularly insofar as intergenerational communication has an impact on older adults. The model describes a pattern whereby younger adults stereotypes of older people lead to the production of patronizing communication to the elderly. This may lessen older adults sense of control in the interaction and reduce their options for satisfying social interaction. In turn this leads to reduced psychological activity and social interaction and eventually may cause physical and psychological declines in older people. Such declines may reinforce younger people s stereotypes of the older population and hence increase the chances of future patronizing speech (Ryan Hummert & Boich 1995). Throughout this literature very little attention has been paid to a primary site in which communication between elderly and younger people occurs: the grandparent-grandchild (GP-GC) relationship. Indeed with the notable exception of the work of Nussbaum and colleagues (Nussbaum & Bettini 1994 Williams & Nussbaum 2000) close relationships remain somewhat uncharted territory in the literature on communication and life-span development (Mares & Fitzpatrick 1995 Rawlins 1992). The GP-GC relationship is crucial for a number of reasons. First it may be the location in which most communication between young and old occurs. Little data exist on this but this paper will provide some suggestive information (see also Baranowski 1982 Ng Liu Loong & Weatherall 1999 Williams & Giles 1996). Much work has examined and bemoaned the increasing age segregation in Western societies (Okraku 1987). This relationship offers a context in which such segregation breaks down. Second the GP-GC relationship may be a place in which future intergenerational competencies are learned. Individuals (old and young) who are able to negotiate a successful intergenerational relationship within the family may stand a better chance of doing the same elsewhere (Kornhaber & Woodward 1985 Silverstein & Parrott 1997). This is not to suggest that a happy

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