Grandparenting in the Digital Age: Loneliness and Computer Usage Trends Among Children in Grandfamilies

The United States Census Bureau estimates there were 5,793,873 children living in "grandfamilies" in 2021. Children reside with a grandparent caregiver when a parent is unwilling or unable to care for their child, which often overlaps with traumatic experiences. These children are also at risk of developing disrupted attachment due to the separation. Increased exposure to traumatic events and disrupted attachment are linked with emotional issues in children, including feelings of loneliness. Increased traumatic experiences in childhood were linked with problematic internet use in emerging adulthood to cope with feelings of loneliness. Data from the second wave in the national Health Behavior in School-aged Children (HBSC) study was used to explore this hypothesis (N= 12638; 1.9% grandchildren; M age = 12.95). Moderation analyses indicated the overall model was significant and accounted for 9% of the variance ([R.sup.2]=0.09, p < 0.01.). The moderation of household type was not significant, but the relation between loneliness and the number of hours spent on the computer was significant (b = 5.1, t(237) = 2.38, p < 0.01). The results show that while there is a significant relation between the children's feelings of loneliness and the number of hours they spend on the computer daily, there was no significant difference between types of family units. Children with feelings of loneliness may use computers as a coping mechanism broadly, regardless of their family system. Targeted interventions to provide safe internet usage for children experiencing loneliness should be explored. Grandparents may benefit from psychoeducation on problematic internet usage for their grandchildren. KEYWORDS: grandfamilies, children, loneliness, computer usage, coping mechanism, family structure, attachment, traumatic experiences, psychoeducation, intervention.