Do Support and Strain With Adult Children Affect Mothers' and Fathers' Physical Activity?

Abstract

Physical activity is central to health. Parents tend to have lower levels of physical activity than the childless, however, little is known about how adult child-parent relationship quality matters for mothers' and fathers' physical activity trajectories. Nationally representative panel data from the Americans' Changing Lives survey (1986-2012) are used to analyze multilevel-ordered logistic regression models. Greater social support from adult children is associated with more frequent active exercise, and higher strain with adult children is related to more frequent active exercise and walking. A significant gender interaction suggests that strain with adult children is related to greater exercise among men more so than women, but this interaction is attenuated after adjusting for cigarette smoking, another gendered way of coping with stress. This study contributes to a more nuanced understanding of how different dimensions of intergenerational relationships shape health behaviors across the life course.