Karen L. Fingerman

Age differences in exposure and reactions to interpersonal tensions: a daily diary study.

This study examines age differences in exposure and reactivity to interpersonal tensions. The data are from the National Study of Daily Experiences in which participants ages 25 to 74 (N = 666) completed phone interviews wherein they described interpersonal tensions and rated the stressfulness of the tensions each evening for 8 days. Coders rated descriptions for types of behavioral reactions. Multilevel models revealed older adults reported fewer interpersonal tensions, were more likely to report tensions with spouses, were less likely to report tensions with children, experienced less stress, and were less likely to argue and more likely to do nothing in response to tensions than were younger adults. Age differences in emotional and behavioral reactions did not appear to be due to variations in exposure to tensions. The discussion centers on why older people may be better able to regulate their reactions to problems than younger people.

Who Gets What and Why? Help Middle-Aged Adults Provide to Parents and Grown Children

OBJECTIVES Middle-aged adults engage in support exchanges with generations above and below. This study investigated (a) how support to one generation is associated with support to the other and (b) factors accounting for whether parents or offspring receive more support in a family. METHODS Middle-aged adults aged 40-60 years (N = 633) completed telephone interviews regarding their relationships and support exchanges with each grown child and living parent. RESULTS Multilevel models revealed that most participants provided more support to the average grown child than to the average parent. Yet, a proportion of the sample reversed this pattern, providing more support to parents. Mediation models revealed that middle-aged adults provided greater support to offspring because they viewed offspring as more important than parents and offspring had greater everyday needs (e.g., being a student, not married). Parental disability accounted for greater support to parents. DISCUSSION Discussion integrates solidarity theory, developmental stake, and contingency theory. Most middle-aged adults provide more to grown offspring than to parents, consistent with their greater stake in their progeny. Middle-aged adults also respond to crises (i.e., parental disability) and everyday needs (i.e., offspring student status) in providing intergenerational support, in accordance with contingency theory.

Sources of Tension in the Aging Mother and Adult Daughter Relationship

This study explored sources of tension in the aging mother-adult daughter relationship. Forty-eight dyads of healthy mothers over the age of 70 years (mean age = 76 years) and their adult daughters (mean age = 44 years) were interviewed individually and then together about their relationship. Responses to questions about tension were coded as referring to intrusiveness, exclusion, inappropriate care of self or other, or as referring to general habits or traits. The term developmental schism is introduced to explain possible sources of tension in this relationship. Aging mothers and middle-aged daughters are at different points in their adult development; developmental discrepancies may foster interpersonal tension in their relationship. Mothers and daughters who described sources of difficulty that were not related to developmental differences had more positive regard for the relationship.

Better with age: Social relationships across adulthood

Older adults typically report higher levels of satisfaction with their social relationships than younger adults. The present paper integrates current developmental research to explain why social relationships are generally more positive with age. We discuss actions by older adults that contribute to more positive social experiences. We also include social role changes that may provide advantages for older adults when navigating their relationships. Next, we turn to interactional processes between older adults with their social partners. We review literature indicating that: (a) older adults engage in strategies that optimize positive social experiences and minimize negative ones by avoiding conflicts, and (b) social partners often reciprocate by treating older adults more positively and with greater forgiveness than they do younger adults.

Future time perspective and life events across adulthood

Age differences in future time perspective and the relations between future time perspective, locus of control, and past and anticipated future life events were examined in younger (ages 20 to 37) and older (ages 60 to 81) men and women. There were neither age nor gender differences in the time period participants reported thinking of most frequently. Participants reported thinking about the next few months more frequently than about other future time periods, which ranged from the next few days to many years. However, younger participants also reported thinking frequently about more distant time periods, whereas older subjects did not. Anticipation of discontinuous future events, control of impending events, and positive past events accounted for some age differences found in thinking about distant future time periods. No systematic gender differences were found.

Tensions in the Parent and Adult Child Relationship: Links to Solidarity and Ambivalence

Tensions are normative in the parent and adult child relationship, but there is little research on the topics that cause the most tension or whether tensions are associated with overall relationship quality. In this study, adult sons and daughters, age 22 to 49, and their mothers and fathers (N = 158 families, 474 individuals) reported the intensity of different tension topics and relationship quality (solidarity and ambivalence) with one another. Tensions varied between and within families by generation, gender, and age of offspring. Compared to tensions regarding individual issues, tensions regarding the relationship were associated with lower affective solidarity and greater ambivalence. Findings are consistent with the developmental schism hypothesis, which indicates that parent-child tensions are common and are the result of discrepancies in developmental needs that vary by generation, gender, and age.

Applications of family systems theory to the study of adulthood

Psychologists who study children have emphasized family processes that influence childrens psychological well-being and subsequent development, but gerontologists have rarely considered the impact of the family as system in adulthood. Drawing on family systems theories, we show how between-family, within-family, and within-individual differences emerge from family interactions in adulthood. Specifically, we consider how adult behavior might be understood in terms of norms sustained by the larger family system. We present three case studies of adult families to illustrate the ways in which their shared beliefs shape emotional experiences, behavior, and conceptions of self and family in adulthood. The family, as a milieu, continues to exert influence over the day-to-day life of individual members after they are grown.

The Role of Offspring and In-Laws in Grandparents’ Ties to Their Grandchildren:

Prior research has considered the influence of the middle generation on ties between grandparents and grandchildren but has not differentiated between gender of parent and kinship to grandparent(e.g., daughter vs. daughter-in-law and son vs. son-in-law). Eighty-six grandparents provided information about the qualities of their relationships with their grandchildren (n = 239) and their grandchildren’s parents (n = 141 mothers and 141 fathers). Two characteristics of the middle generation were considered: (a) gender of the parent (mother vs. father) and (b) kinship to grandparent—son or daughter (consanguine parent) or daughter-in-law or son-in-law (affinal parent). Relationships with children-in-law were more strongly associated with qualities of ties to grandchildren than relationships with grandparents’ own children. Implications for future research addressing in-law relationships are discussed.

Psychosocial Resources and Associations Between Childhood Physical Abuse and Adult Well-being

Childhood physical abuse is often associated with detrimental physical and psychological consequences in adulthood. Yet, some adults appear to overcome effects of very severe parental physical abuse in childhood. This study considered whether psychosocial resources (i.e., emotional and instrumental support, personal control) explain variability in well-being for adults who experienced childhood physical abuse by their parents. Participants included 2,711 adults aged 25-74 years from the Midlife in the United States (MIDUS I) study. Moderation models revealed that high levels of personal control were associated with better physical and psychological functioning among adults who were physically abused as children. Thus, personal control may be a key factor to health and well-being and thus resilient functioning following childhood abuse.

Support to Aging Parents and Grown Children in Black and White Families

PURPOSE Black and White middle-aged adults typically are in a pivot position of providing support to generations above and below. Racial differences in support to each generation in the family remain unclear, however. Different factors may account for racial differences in support of grown children versus aging parents. DESIGN AND METHODS Middle-aged adults (aged 40-60 years; 35%, n = 216 Black and 65%, n = 397 White) rated social support they provided each aging parent and grown child. Participants reported background characteristics representing their resources and measures of needs for each family member. Interviews also assessed beliefs about obligation to support parents and grown children and rewards from helping. RESULTS Multilevel models revealed White middle-aged adults provided more support to grown children than Black middle-aged adults. Demands from offspring, beliefs about support, and rewards from helping explained these racial differences. Black middle-aged adults provided more support to parents than White middle-aged adults. Beliefs about support and feelings of personal reward from providing support explained this difference but resources and demands did not. IMPLICATIONS Racial differences varied by generation (parent or offspring). The prolonged transitions common for White young adults explained racial differences in support of offspring. Middle-aged adults may treat support of parents as more discretionary, with cultural ideas about obligation and personal rewards guiding behaviors.