Do religious transitions from early to established adulthood predict filial elder‐care norms?

Abstract

Objective This study employs multiple religious dimensions and a developmental perspective to identify distinct classes of religiosity among young adults in early and middle adulthood, and to describe how transition patterns in religiosity classes are associated with filial elder‐care norms in midlife. Background There is a broad consensus that religiosity is associated with strong intergenerational ties, including the willingness to provide support and care for older parents. Less is known regarding how transitions in religiosity from early to middle adulthood predict filial eldercare norms in midlife. Methods The sample consisted of 365 young adults participating in the Longitudinal Study of Generations in 2000 (mean age = 23 years) and 2016 (mean age = 39 years) waves. We conducted latent class and latent transition analyses to address study aims. Results Analyses indicate three latent classes of religiosity in both 2000 and 2016 waves: strongly religious, weakly religious, and doctrinally religious. Those who remained weakly religious and who declined in religiosity between 2000 and 2016 held weaker filial elder‐care norms in 2016 compared to those who remained strongly religious. Conclusion Our findings add a developmental perspective to the literature on religion and filial norms and suggest that trends toward irreligion and increased secularly may portend weakening responsibility for aging parents among middle‐aged adults.

A Tale of Two Identities: The Value, Attitude, and Behavior of Adult Children towards Family Tourism Experiences

“…In contrast to family tourism encompassing younger children, family trips involving adolescents with their parents have been found to possess unique value featuring the exploration and formation of the concept of "self", particularly in shaping adolescents' "self-identity" during travel [26]. As children grow up, the evolving awareness of adult children's own norms of responsibility as a "child" propels their cognition of the primary value of traveling with parents to change [27]. Having been relieved from the need to prove their own independence, adult children exhibit a stronger concern for the benefits of these trips to their parents and family.…”