Parents’ and Offspring's Perceptions of Change and Continuity when Parents Experience the Transition to Old Age

Ambivalent Relationship Qualities Between Adults and Their Parents: Implications for the Well-Being of Both Parties

“…Men who agree to participate in studies with their parents may be more similar to women than men in the general population. Nonetheless, other studies in urban areas in recent cohorts have reported no differences in sons' and daughters' relationship with parents (e.g., Fingerman, et al, 2007; Logan & Spitze, 1996) and a national study examining an array of issues (not limited to parents and offspring) also failed to report gender of offspring differences (Shaw et al, 2004). Thus, recent cohorts of sons and daughters may experience fewer differences in relationships with their parents than prior cohorts did.…”

“…Scholars have consistently linked qualities of parents' and offspring's relationships to well-being using cross-sectional data, and presumed the relationship qualities predict well-being (e.g., Lowenstein, 2007; Shaw et al, 2004; Umberson, 1992). Nonetheless, researchers interested in intergenerational ambivalence speculate that ambivalence arises when parents' health declines (Fingerman, Hay, Cichy, Kamp-Dush, & Hosterman, 2007; Spitze & Gallant, 2004). Findings in the mother/offspring dyad seem to support this premise regarding ambivalence.…”

“…Mothers are more involved in caring for children and children expect mothers to serve nurturing roles, even after they are grown. Offspring may help their mothers more when the mothers are in poor health, but they may experience conflicted feelings in doing so (Fingerman, et al, 2007). Their mothers also may appear to be more critical and demanding as a consequence of poor health.…”

Giving to the Good and the Needy: Parental Support of Grown Children

“…We examined parental gender because mothers may offer more support than fathers (Rossi & Rossi, 1990). Parental health has implications for assistance to offspring; parents who are sickly may be unable to provide assistance (Henretta et al, 2002) or may receive assistance from grown children instead (Fingerman , Hay, Kamp Dush, Cichy, & Hosterman, 2007; Grundy, 2005). We considered parental race, cognizant that differences between Black and White families may reflect economic more than cultural differences (Sarkisian & Gerstel, 2004; Suitor, Sechrist, & Pillemer, 2007b).…”

The Ties That Bind: Midlife Parents' Daily Experiences With Grown Children

“…We controlled for offspring characteristics that might be associated with parental daily involvement with grown children as well. We controlled for gender because daughters typically have closer ties to parents than sons do (Suitor & Pillemer, ), though we also note that recent research suggests that daughters' and sons' roles may be converging (Fingerman, Hay, Kamp Dush, Cichy, & Hosterman, ). Parents typically are more involved with younger adult offspring than with older adult offspring (Fingerman, Cheng, Tighe, et al, ; Swartz, ), and we controlled for offspring age.…”