Parent Adult-Child Relations: Within Family Differences

描述(申请人提供)：本研究的目标是调查家庭内部在以后生活中亲子关系的差异，以及这些差异对父母和他们的孩子的影响。2001年，我们启动了第一个关于父母-成年子女关系中家庭内差异的大规模研究：家庭内差异研究(WFDS-I)。数据来自566名年龄在65-75岁之间的母亲、773名成年子女和130名丈夫。关于父母与其成年子女的关系的信息是从父母那里收集的；在300个家庭中，数据是从两代人中收集的。WFDS-I显示，大多数父母在成年子女之间存在差异，这些模式可以通过社会结构和价值相似性、代际交流和发展因素来预测。WFDS-I非常适合于研究晚年家庭内部分化的模式；然而，它的横断面设计不允许检查分化随时间的变化或这种分化的后果。在这项申请中，我们建议进行第二波数据收集，在此过程中，父母和成年子女将在参与最初研究的大约五年后接受采访。这一设计将使我们能够解决三个具体目标：1)研究亲子关系中家庭内部差异的模式随着父母和孩子生活中的事件而随时间变化的方式。2)研究成年子女向照看的转变，包括预测为什么有些儿童承担更大的照看责任的因素，以及哪些儿童成为照顾者会如何影响父母和儿童的结果。3)了解儿童问题对父母福祉的影响，以及这种关系如何因家庭内部在此类问题的发生和特征上的差异而受到调节。过多的黑人家庭样本允许在整个分析过程中考虑种族因素。拟议的项目与公共卫生问题有明显的相关性。这项研究将提供关于家庭关系作为晚年身心健康预测因素的新数据。此外，它还将阐明成年子女向老年人提供照料的性质和动态；这些资料可能有助于制定和完善干预措施，以帮助照顾者和照顾者。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The goal of the proposed study is to investigate within-family differences in parent-child relations in later life, and the consequences of these differences for parents and their children. In 2001, we initiated the first large- scale study of within-family differences in parent-adult child relations: The Within-Family Differences Study (WFDS-I). Data were collected from 566 mothers ages 65-75, 773 of their adult children, and 130 of their husbands. Information about parents' relationships with each of their adult children was collected from mothers and fathers; in 300 families, data were collected from members of both generations. The WFDS-I revealed that most parents differentiate among their adult children, and that these patterns can be predicted by social structural and value similarity, intergenerational exchange, and developmental factors. The WFDS-I Was ideally suited to investigate patterns of within-family differentiation in later life; however its cross- sectional design did not allow examination of changes across time in differentiation or the consequences of such differentiation. In this application, we propose conducting a second wave of data collection, in which parents and adult children will be interviewed approximately five years after they participated in the original study. This design will allow us to address three specific aims: 1) Examining the ways in which patterns of within-family differences in parent-child relations change across time in response to events in parents' and children's lives. 2) Studying the transition to caregiving among adult children, including factors that predict why some children assume greater caregiving responsibilities, and how outcomes for both parents and children are affected by which children become caregivers. 3) Understanding of the effects of children's problems on parents' well-being and how this relationship is moderated by within-family differences in both the occurrence and characteristics of such problems. An oversample of Black families allows for consideration of race throughout the analyses. The proposed project has clear relevance to public health issues. The study will provide new data regarding the role of family relationships as predictors of physical and mental health in later life. Further, it will shed new light on the nature and dynamics of the provision of care to older persons by adult children; this information is likely to be useful in developing and refining interventions to assist both caregivers and care recipients.