Do Older Parents' Relationships With Their Adult Children Affect Cognitive Limitations, and Does This Differ for Mothers and Fathers?

Abstract

Increasing risk for cognitive limitations in later life, along with an aging population, presents critical challenges for caregiving families and health care systems. These challenges urgently call for research examining factors that may protect against or exacerbate cognitive limitations among older adults. We examine the quality of relationships with adult children, a feature of the social environment known to affect physical and mental health and that may also influence the cognitive health of aging parents. Using nationally representative panel data from the Americans' Changing Lives survey, we analyze the impact of both emotional support and strain in relationships with adult children on trajectories of cognitive limitations of aging parents. Higher levels of strain with adult children were linked to higher initial levels of cognitive limitations among mothers but appeared to be protective against increasing cognitive limitations for fathers as they aged. The gender gap in cognitive limitations may be exacerbated among aging parents experiencing high levels of strain with their adult children. These findings point to the importance of taking gender into account and studying whether positive and negative aspects of close social relationships affect older adults.