scholarly journals Coresidence between Unmarried Children in Established Adulthood and Older Parents in Korea: Relationship Characteristics and Associations with Life Satisfaction

2021 ◽  
Vol 59 (3) ◽  
pp. 369-386
Author(s):  
Hyeji Kim ◽  
Jaerim Lee

The purpose of this study was to examine which aspects of coresident intergenerational relationships were associated with the life satisfaction of unmarried children in established adulthood and of their parents. In this study, the coresident relationship characteristics included support exchange, emotion, interferenceconflict, and perceptions of coresidence. Data were collected from (a) 250 never-married adults who were 35+ years old and lived in Seoul with at least one parent aged 75 years or younger and (b) 250 older adults who were 75 years old or younger and had at least one unmarried child aged 35+ years living in the same household. Our multiple regression analysis of unmarried children showed that the adult child’s financial support, the adult child’s psychological reliance on parents, the parent’s psychological reliance on the child, and relationship quality were significantly related to higher levels of life satisfaction. In contrast, the parent’s daily interference, daily conflicts, and anticipation of future care of parents were related to lower levels of life satisfaction. Second, the characteristics that were positively associated with the parent’s life satisfaction were the parent’s instrumental support, relationship quality, the coresident child’s daily interference, positive perceptions of intergenerational coresidence, and expectation of future care of parents. In contrast, the parent’s financial support, daily conflicts with the child, and taking intergenerational coresidence for granted were negatively related to the parent’s life satisfaction. This study advances our understanding of coresidence between unmarried children in established adulthood and their older parents by focusing on the multiple aspects of intergenerational coresidence.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 320-320
Author(s):  
Merril Silverstein ◽  
Wencheng Zhang ◽  
Douglas Wolf ◽  
Maria Brown

Abstract This paper focuses on whether stronger relationships with parents early in the family lifecycle results in adult children providing more support to them 45 years later, and whether this association is contingent on parents’ remaining years of life. We test time-to-death of parents as an indicator of vulnerability, an easy to ascertain and potentially powerful predictor of support. Data derived from the Longitudinal Study of Generations, a panel of three-generation families, originally fielded in 1971 and continuing to 2016. Focusing on the youngest generation (mean age = 19 in 1971), the analytic sample consists of 356 child-father relationships 473 child-mother relationships. We examined trajectories of instrumental support provided to parents over four waves between 1997 and 2016 as a function of each parent’s remaining years of life (mortality data from the National Death Index). We also examined variation in those trajectories based on frequency of shared activities and intensity of emotional closeness in 1971. Ordinal multi-level growth curve analysis revealed that proximity to death was a significant predictor of instrumental support provided over time. Only in child-father relationships did greater emotional closeness, as expressed in 1971, produce stronger associations between remaining years of life and provision of instrumental support. Findings are discussed in terms of understanding intergenerational dynamics that unfold over many decades and the utility of time-to-death as an alternative metric for assessing vulnerability. This research is timely in light of growing uncertainty about the family as a reliable source of care in later life, particularly for older men.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fanghong Huang ◽  
Peipei Fu

Abstract Backgrounds The oldest-old population is increasing sharply in China, and intergenerational support has been their primary source of caregiving. Although intergenerational support has been found to be associated with wellbeing of older people in previous study, most analysis were from the perspective of children’s characteristics and exchange patterns. This study aims to investigate the impact of different types of intergenerational support on subjective wellbeing among Chinese oldest-old and the variation across groups of different economic status, based on their five-tier of needs (physiological needs, safety needs, love/belonging needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization needs). Methods We included older adults aged ≥ 80 years from the 2018 Chinese longitudinal Healthy Longevity Survey (CLHLS). We assessed older people’s subjective wellbeing by their life satisfaction and psychological health. We evaluated four types of intergenerational support: parents provide financial support, receive financial, instrumental and emotional support. We applied binary logistic regression analysis to analyze the association between different intergenerational support and older people’s subjective wellbeing and the moderating effect of self-rated economic status on this relationship. Results A total of 8.794 participants were included, with a mean age of 91,46 years (standard deviation:7.60). Older adults who provide financial support (OR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.01, 1.85) and receive emotional support (OR: 1.99, 95% CI: 1.40, 2.83) report better subjective wellbeing. However, receiving instrumental support depressed psychological health (OR: 0.67, 95% CI: 0.56, 0.79) while improved life satisfaction (OR: 1.42, 95% CI: 1.04, 1.55). Receiving emotional support promoted parents’ psychological health among all combinations of support, and receiving all the three types together raised their subjective wellbeing most. Conclusions Our study recognizes that higher level of subjective wellbeing for oldest-old is related to providing financial support, receiving emotional and certain instrumental support. In addition, higher economic status can moderate these associations.


2009 ◽  
Vol 29 (5) ◽  
pp. 783-802 ◽  
Author(s):  
EVA-MARIA MERZ ◽  
NATHAN S. CONSEDINE ◽  
HANS-JOACHIM SCHULZE ◽  
CARLO SCHUENGEL

ABSTRACTThe current study describes from an attachment-theoretical viewpoint how intergenerational support in adult child-parent relationships is associated with wellbeing in both generations. The attachment perspective and its focus on affective relationship characteristics is considered as an important theoretical framework for the investigation of special relationships across the life span. Data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (N=1,456 dyads) were analysed to investigate if relationship quality moderated the association between providing intergenerational support to parents and wellbeing in adult children, on the one hand, and receiving intergenerational support from children and wellbeing of older parents on the other hand. The perspectives of both relationship partners were taken into account to allow for dependence within dyads. Intergenerational support, in terms of instrumental help provision, was negatively associated with the child's and parent's wellbeing. Being the stronger and wiser partner in adult-child parent relationships, as reflected by giving advice and being the initiator within the relationship, was beneficial for the wellbeing of both generations. Additionally, relationship quality was the strongest predictor of wellbeing in both generations. Parental wellbeing was benefited by filial support in high quality relationships. If an intergenerational relationships was of high quality, the challenges of intergenerational support provision and receipt were easier to deal with for both generations, parents and children.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Jia Chen ◽  
Xiaochen Zhou ◽  
Nan Lu

Abstract Older parents in China rely heavily on their adult children for instrumental assistance. In different multi-child families, multiple offspring may co-operate in providing instrumental support to older parents in distinct ways in terms of how much support they provide on average and how much differentiation exists between them when they provide such support within a family. We aimed to identify different within-family patterns in relation to multiple offspring's instrumental support to an older parent in Chinese multi-child families, and to investigate potential predictors for different within-family patterns. Using data from the China Family Panel Studies (2016), we had a working sample of 5,790 older adults aged 60+ (mean = 68.54, standard deviation = 6.60). We employed latent profile analysis (LPA) to classify within-family patterns and multinomial logistic regression to investigate predictors. Our findings identified three within-family patterns: dissociated (59.10%), highly differentiated (29.60%) and united-filial (11.30%). Older parents in the highly differentiated families tended to be older, mothers, divorced/widowed and to have poorer physical health compared to their counterparts in the dissociated families. In contrast, the composition characteristics of multiple adult children played more important roles in determining the united-filial within-family pattern. The united-filial families were more likely to have fewer adult children, at least one adult daughter and at least one co-residing adult child.


Author(s):  
Ekaterina Hertog ◽  
Man-Yee Kan

AbstractThe rise of life expectancy throughout the developed world has meant that older adults play an increasingly important role in their grown-up children’s lives. We evaluate whether the intergenerational solidarity theory is useful for understanding the intergenerational transfers of time in Japan given the relatively generous welfare provision for the older adults and the fall in intergenerational coresidence. We apply seemingly unrelated regression models to data of the 2006 Japanese Survey on Time Use and Leisure Activities (Statistics Bureau Japan, 2006) to investigate how coresidence patterns are associated with paid and unpaid work time of adult married children. The sample contains 23,226 married couples where both husband and wife are aged 20 to 59. We find evidence of intergenerational solidarity in coresident households. We also find that “doing gender” is layered through intergenerational exchanges of support between married working-age children and their older parents. Working-age women’s time use patterns are associated with coresidence arrangements and care needs of their older relatives to a much greater extent than working-age men’s. The observed patterns are consistent with healthy older women supporting their daughters’ careers in exchange for care when they need help themselves. For working-age men, the patterns are not very pronounced. Notably, working-age husbands without children appear to be more responsive to their older the parents’ care needs, suggesting that fatherhood may be associated with solidifying gendered role performance within Japanese couples.


2010 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 879-896 ◽  
Author(s):  
TENZIN WANGMO

ABSTRACTUsing interview data from 30 Tibetan elders living in India and Switzerland, the paper explores the support they received, their perception of intergenerational relationships, and their acceptance of different levels of intergenerational exchange. All of the sample had aged in either India or Switzerland and so provide excellent comparison groups, from respectively a developing and a developed country, by which to study changing filial piety with time, context and socio-economic conditions. With limited resources in old age, most of the participants in India needed financial support. Among them, parents with many children and children in developed countries received better financial support and collective care than those with one child or all children living in India. In contrast, the participants in Switzerland were entitled to state old-age benefits, and so required mainly affirmation and emotional support. A consequence of living in a developed nation was dissatisfaction when the children adopted western values and the family's cultural continuity was threatened. The findings support two recommendations: in developing countries, the provision of old-age benefits to ensure a minimum level of financial security and independence among older adults; and in developed countries, the promotion of a mutual understanding of filial piety among different generations of older refugees and immigrants to help ameliorate intergenerational differences.


2020 ◽  
pp. 026540752096487
Author(s):  
Anna K. Lindell ◽  
Sarah E. Killoren ◽  
Nicole Campione-Barr

Many emerging adults experience increases in well-being as they exit adolescence, but college students are at particular risk for emotional adjustment problems, including depression and anxiety. Although receiving financial support from parents may reduce stress and aid emotional adjustment, not all parents are able to provide financial support. Maintaining high-quality relationships with parents may be particularly important for emotional adjustment in these instances. The present study examined whether the quality of parent-emerging adult relationships differed depending on level of parental financial support, and whether parental financial support moderated associations between relationship quality and emotional adjustment. Participants were 260 college students who completed questionnaires during their first and fourth year of college about the quality of their relationships with mothers and fathers, depressive and anxiety symptoms, and parental financial support. On average, parent-child relationships were high-quality, especially when parents provided more financial support. Furthermore, high-quality relationships with parents were related to fewer depressive and anxiety symptoms 3 years later for female students, especially when they received less financial support. However, high-quality relationships along with greater financial support was related to increased anxiety among male students. Results may help colleges and universities developing parent programming understand the nuanced implications of parental support for student mental health.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S275-S275
Author(s):  
Lin Chen ◽  
Yajun Song ◽  
Yixin You

Abstract The combination of aging and losing an only adult child challenges an increasing number of older adults in China. Current literature primarily focuses on older parents’ bereavement but seldom examines how they restore their lives. Guided by the Dual Process Model, this study explores how older parents who lost their only adult child restore their lives and prepare for future care in Shanghai. Twenty-four older adults were purposively sampled and participated in face-to-face, in-depth interviews. The findings suggest that participants tried to restore their lives by rationalizing grief and expanding their social networks. Despite their losses, participants remained in favor of family caregiving and reluctantly prepared for future care. They showed ambivalent attitudes toward current government support while proposing their preferred services. This study informs social work practice to incorporate caregiving plan services and emotional support for this vulnerable group.


2019 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 572-589
Author(s):  
Nathan W. Hudson ◽  
Richard E. Lucas ◽  
M. Brent Donnellan

Previous research suggests both relationship status and relationship quality correlate with well-being. The present study extended these findings in three ways. First, we benchmarked individuals with various-quality relationships against uncoupled people to determine whether even low-quality relationships are associated with greater well-being than being unpartnered. Second, research suggests global well-being (e.g., life satisfaction) and experiential well-being (e.g., momentary affect) oftentimes have different predictors. Thus, we tested whether individuals report greater experiential well-being while with their partners. Finally, we examined whether daily time invested into one’s relationship predicted well-being. Results indicated that being in a romantic relationship, interacting with one’s partner, and investing greater time into the relationship all predicted greater well-being. However, these effects were moderated by relationship quality, such that being in even relatively neutral relationships and interacting therein were associated with lower well-being than being unpartnered.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document