Filial Responsibility

Abstract

Abstract Filial responsibility – the sense of obligation experienced by adult children to meet their older parents' physical and emotional needs – remains an important public interest in increasingly aging societies where the dependency and caregiving needs of elders are a growing concern. Endorsement of filial responsibility norms continues to be strong in contemporary societies, yet variations by age, gender, race/ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and other structural and situational factors have been noted. Filial responsibility is associated with providing emotional and instrumental care to parents, but it is not the only motivator and predictor of caregiving, nor does it necessarily buffer the negative impact of filial care. Although adult children's behaviors tend to reflect ongoing acceptance of filial responsibility globally, there have been some recent efforts to further explore legally prescribing and enforcing filial responsibility.