Parent Adult-Child Relations: Within Family Differences

描述（由申请人提供）：本研究旨在探讨家庭内部的亲子关系差异，以及这些差异对父母及其子女的影响。2001年，我们首次对亲子关系中的家庭内部差异进行了大规模的研究：家庭内部差异研究（WFDS-I）。数据收集自566名年龄在65-75岁之间的母亲、773名成年子女和130名丈夫。收集了父母与每个成年子女的关系信息；在300个家庭中，从两代人的成员中收集数据。WFDS-I调查显示，大多数父母在其成年子女中存在差异，这些差异可以通过社会结构和价值观相似性、代际交换和发育因素来预测。WFDS-I非常适合于调查家庭内部在以后生活中的分化模式；然而，它的横断面设计不允许检查分化的变化或这种分化的后果。在这个申请中，我们建议进行第二波数据收集，在父母和成年子女参加原始研究大约五年后进行访谈。这个设计将使我们能够解决三个具体的目标：1)研究亲子关系中家庭内部差异的模式如何随着父母和孩子生活中的事件而随时间变化。2)研究成年子女向照顾者的转变，包括预测为什么一些儿童承担更大的照顾责任的因素，以及儿童成为照顾者如何影响父母和儿童的结果。3)了解儿童问题对父母幸福感的影响，以及这种关系如何被家庭内部在这些问题的发生和特征上的差异所调节。黑人家庭的样本允许在整个分析中考虑种族因素。拟议的项目显然与公共卫生问题有关。这项研究将提供新的数据，说明家庭关系在以后生活中作为身体和心理健康预测因素的作用。此外，它将使人们对成年子女向老年人提供照料的性质和动态有新的了解；这些信息可能有助于制定和完善干预措施，以帮助照顾者和被照顾者。

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.