Study of Grandparental Caregiving Effects on Early Childhood Development in Gombe State

Grandparental care is a common childcare arrangement in northern Nigeria, particularly among working mothers, and understanding its developmental implications informs childcare policy and ECD programming in the North East zone. This study examined the effect of grandparental caregiving on early childhood development outcomes among children aged 2 to 5 years in Gombe and Bauchi Municipal Local Government Areas, Gombe State. A comparative cross-sectional design was employed, comparing development outcomes between 120 children in primary grandparental care and 120 in primary parental care, matched for socioeconomic status. Development was assessed across cognitive, language, social-emotional, and motor domains using the Malawi Development Assessment Tool. Results showed that grandparentally-cared children had comparable motor and social-emotional outcomes but significantly lower cognitive and language scores (p < 0.05). Grandparents' educational level was significantly positively associated with grandchild cognitive outcomes. Grandparent age above 65 was a negative predictor of language-stimulating activities. Frequency of father-child interaction was significantly higher in the grandparental care group, partially compensating for grandparent limitations. The study concludes that grandparental care is largely adequate for social-emotional and physical development but may require supplementary language and cognitive stimulation. Recommendations include grandparent ECD training programmes, community playgroups as supplements to home-based care, and mobile ECD stimulation kits for grandparent-headed caregiving households. Keywords: grandparental caregiving, early childhood development, Gombe State, childcare arrangements, northern Nigeria