Researcher Profile: Claire Growney on Children’s Perception of Older Adults
By Chia-wa Yeh, Head Teacher and Research Coordinator
How do young children perceive older adults, such as their grandparents? More specifically, do they view them as competent and helpful individuals?
These are the questions Stanford research scientist Dr. Claire Growney spent a year exploring in four Bing Nursery School classrooms, beginning in the spring of 2024. During that time, her gentle and warm presence was deeply appreciated by the teachers and the more than 100 children with whom she engaged.
Growney received her bachelor’s degree from the University of Mary Washington, a small liberal arts school in Virginia, where she double majored in psychology and music. At North Carolina State University, she earned a doctorate in lifespan developmental psychology. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis, where she focused on cognition and emotion regulation across the lifespan. Next, she became a New Map of Life fellow at the Stanford Center on Longevity directed by Professor Laura Carstensen and, more recently, became a research scientist in Professor Carstensen’s Life-span Development Lab.
Growney grew up in Rochester, New York, and comes from a family of educators: Her sister is an early elementary school teacher, and her mother is a foreign language teacher. Growney’s hobbies include playing the viola, knitting, embroidery, hiking, and spending time with children and older adults. As a psychological scientist, she also enjoys teaching music to children.
Below, Growney discusses her academic work and experience conducting research at Bing.
Please describe your research interests and studies.
My study at Bing is one of a series of projects that I did as part of the New Map of Life initiative at the Stanford Center on Longevity. The New Map of Life describes how we might reshape societal structures and norms to support healthy and long lives, and fellows in the program investigate different topics related to longevity. As a researcher interested in longevity, one might think that the oldest adults are my sole focus, but my work focuses more on well-being at all life stages and how longevity has implications for young people. One of the implications central to my work is that longer lives make it possible for more caring adults to be present to contribute to young children’s well-being and development. In other projects, I examined the possible benefits of intergenerational engagement across the lifespan. In my project at Bing, I was interested in understanding children’s perceptions of potential support figures such as grandparents.
How did you become interested in this line of research?
As a graduate student, about half of my coursework focused on development in early life, while the other half focused on later life development, or what some might call “aging.” I did a lot of work examining successful aging, focusing on emotional well-being and social problem-solving, which tend to flourish in older adulthood. It wasn’t until I came to Stanford as part of the New Map of Life initiative that I had the opportunity to think more deeply about how older adults’ social-emotional strengths may make them well-suited to be resources for young children.
On a more personal level, I have a large extended family and went to a mixed-age family home daycare from about 6 weeks old to eighth grade. For years, I babysat for families who still hold a special place in my heart. I think seeing development all around me is part of what made me interested in understanding it better during my academic career. I also had a special relationship with my grandparents, and I’m fortunate enough to still have one of my grandmothers alive today.
Can you tell us more about the studies you’ve conducted at Bing?
I recently finished a multi-part study at Bing with 106 children aged 3 to 5. We aimed to look at how children view people of different ages as helpful in different ways. First, parents completed a questionnaire packet so we could learn about the people who play supportive roles in their child’s life. Next, we invited children to the “game room” on two separate occasions.
In Study 1, we presented the children with a set of helper dolls representing a grandma, grandpa, mom, dad, and two “big kids,” as well as a young child doll meant to represent someone about the age of the child participant. We told the child about a series of scenarios where the young child doll needed help with something related to either learning (e.g., writing letters), instrumental tasks (e.g., opening a box), health (e.g., putting on a bandage), emotions (e.g., feeling better when sad), or social issues (e.g., helping to make a new friend). Children selected one helper doll to help in each scenario. We were most interested in the types of scenarios where grandparent dolls were selected.
In Study 2, we interviewed children about their own helpers, asking them to make a list of the people who are helpful to them and then asking follow-up questions about who typically helps in different types of scenarios. Next, for children who had regular contact with their grandparents according to the parent’s report, we interviewed the child about their relationship with their grandparents. Our secondary aim was to understand how children conceptualize the role of grandparent.
What do the results tell you?
In Study 1, we found that children prefer to seek help from the mom doll in most types of scenarios, consistent with prior work. For scenarios requiring social and emotional support, however, children are especially likely to seek help from the grandma doll. The results suggest that children are sensitive to the social-emotional expertise held by older adults, such as grandmothers.
In Study 2, we found that children overwhelmingly reported receiving help from their parents above other types of potential helpers across domains. There are many other types of figures whom children reported as helpful in their lives, such as teachers, siblings, neighbors, friends, babysitters, other caregivers, and extended family, including grandparents. About 75% of children reported that a grandparent is one of their helpers, but grandparents are typically not the “go-to” person for help in any particular domain. It’s important to note that in Study 1, we created situations where a specific set of helpers were all equally readily available, whereas in Study 2, we were interested in the children’s helpers in real life, where helper availability varies greatly by context.
From interviewing children about their relationship with their grandparents, several themes emerged. First, when asked what their grandparents are good at doing, children most commonly reported types of play such as games, outdoor activities, or imaginative play. Other common responses included “taking care of me,” reading books, singing songs, sewing, and working in the garden or yard. Second, children seem to be aware of and value their grandparents’ cultural knowledge. Many children were eager to share that they speak a different language with their grandparents or that their grandparents are the best at cooking foods connected to their culture. Some children do not have grandparents living nearby but described special visits when grandparents come to town or when their families travel long distances by airplane to visit them. These preliminary findings tell us a bit about the special role grandparents play in young children’s lives.
How would you describe your experience working with children at Bing?
I have had an amazing experience working with the children, and getting to know the children is probably the best part of the research process. Researchers spend time engaging with the children before inviting them to a game room to play a research game. One of my favorite things to do with the children is watch and maybe help a little as they create things out of sand, blocks, clay, or other art materials. I also love participating in music time and enjoy the moments when a child invites me to be part of their imaginative play. For some children, their understanding of my role as a game room teacher is that it’s my job to come up with fun games for them to play. I’ve even had children suggest toys to incorporate into my next game! The teachers at Bing embody an important theme in my research, which is how caring adults support young children’s development. One of the principles of the New Map of Life is that we should invest in our future centenarians, and when I walk into a classroom at Bing, I appreciate the children for the vibrant, joyful 3- to 5-year-olds they are—and also see them as future centenarians being supported by caring adults.
Were there observations that could point toward future research?
Yes, there are countless times my experiences at Bing sparked ideas that may inspire future research! I’ll name a few from the three classrooms where I spent the most time. In Center AM, Teacher Parull Chandra has a birthday tradition where the children play the role of the Earth orbiting the sun, representing the passing of a year. With each orbit, the birthday child shares something about themselves at each age. This made me think about how children develop life narratives and come to understand time. In Professor Carstensen’s work, we find that the way older adults perceive and value time seems to contribute to their emotional well-being. In Center PM, after observing an older child help a younger child, Teacher Sadie Parrinello described to me how special it is to see a child who spends more than one year at Bing master the five basic, open-ended materials (blocks, clay, paint, sand, and water). Some of these children seem to naturally and happily take on helping positions in the classroom. We see potential benefits of having age-diverse social worlds in adulthood, and now I’m thinking about how and why mixed-age learning environments like Bing might support development in early childhood as well. At story time in West PM, Teacher Nancy Verdtzabella once talked to the children about how we’re all part of a community, meaning we respect and care about each other. This made me think about how children conceptualize, create, and benefit from a sense of community and belonging—a theme we’re currently exploring at the neighborhood level with adults in Professor Carstensen’s work. Communities can be found in every classroom at Bing, from the small snack table groups to the larger sense of community during story time when families and caregivers often join the classroom. Developmental researchers at Stanford are very fortunate to have the opportunity to be part of the Bing community.
What are your next steps?
Yochai Shavit [director of research at the Stanford Center on Longevity], Professor Carstensen, and I are writing up the findings and we’ll submit them to a journal soon. In our next study at Bing, together with postdoc Anna Pot, we’re looking at how children understand the concept of age and children’s ability to detect age from facial features. We’re also looking at how children attribute characteristics related to warmth and competence to faces representing younger versus older adults. Beyond this project, I hope to continue research aiming to understand the important role grandparents or grandparent-like figures can play in the lives of young children. We’re so grateful to the children, families, and staff at Bing for being a part of our work!