Effects of Life Course Transitions on the Quality of Relationships between Adult Children and Their Parents

Abstract

Parents and children are connected throughout their lives. Each generation experiences life course transitions, and these, in turn, influence the lives of the other generation. Using data from the 19871988 and 1992-1994 waves of the National Survey of Families and Households, we examine how life course transitions experienced by each generation affect changes in the adult child-parent relationship. There is substantial variability in child-parent relationships. Approximately one fifth of relationships deteriorate, and one fifth improve over this time period. Results indicate that parental divorce and declines in parents' health lead to deteriorating child-parent relationships. Problems in a child's marriage also strain the adult child-parent relationship. Gender has an important mediating effect on intergenerational relations, as evidenced by the differential effects on son-mother and daughter-father relationships of having children, changing work hours, and increasing distance. Each generation is bound to fateful decisions and events in the other's life course. Glenn Elder (1985, p. 40) With few exceptions, the lives of parents and their children are connected in significant ways as long as both generations are living. Because of linkages across generations, it is likely that life course transitions experienced by members of one generation will have consequences for members of the other (Elder, 1985; Elder, Caspi, & Downey, 1986). For example, changes in an older parent's health or marital status are expected to have consequences for the lives of his or her adult children. Similarly, if an adult child marries, divorces, has a child, or loses a job, his or her parents' lives may be affected. In this study, we examine how life course changes in both generations influence the quality of the relationship that adult children have with their parents. Most adult children report having a good relationship with their parents. However, as we will show, there is variation in the reported quality of relationships, and relationships are not static. Some adult child-parent relationships improve; others deteriorate. We are interested in how life course transitions and other individual characteristics are related to changes in the quality of intergenerational relationships. What happens to a relationship when a parent is widowed or suffers a decline in health? What happens when a child divorces or has a baby? Previous studies have used cross-sectional data to examine how factors such as health and marital status are related to the quality of the child-parent relationship, to contact, and exchange. We use findings from this literature to formulate some expectations about how life course changes affect intergenerational relationships. However, this study goes beyond previous research in three ways. First, we examine changes over time in the quality of the adult child-parent relationship. Second, we consider the impact of life course transitions on child-parent relationships. Rather than looking at the effects of marital status or health status on the relationship, we examine effects of changes in these statuses. Third, we take into account transitions in both the adult child's life and the parent's life. With this perspective, we expect to provide a clearer picture of the ways that intergenerational relationships change in response to life events. TRANSITIONS AND INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS Background Reuben Hill's (1958) classic conceptualization of how stressors affect relationships within a family and the extension of his model by McCubbin and Patterson (1983) provide a useful starting point for this study. They argue that stressors such as death, illness, divorce, and unemployment alter relationships between family members. For example, the illness or unemployment of one family member may require others to fill new roles, which they find stressful. Similarly, the addition or loss of a family member may disrupt existing family roles and require readjustments. …