Use this guide to assess when a loved one needs a caregiver and what options are available

Where's the best place for Mom or Dad to live? Which local agencies and services can help us? Must I do all this myself? Where will we ever get the money? Parenting Your Aging Parents helps families cope with these and other concerns, like nothing else can. In simple, easy-to-understand words, it covers everything from vital financial and legal matters required for the most critical moments of caregiving to details of medical insurance, tips on recognizing physical and emotional symptoms, and methods for getting the best possible care from doctors, hospitals, and home support services. A complete guide, this book includes a wealth of information on every aspect of caring for aging parents, whether they live independently or in a nursing home, thousands of miles away or in the next room.

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There's a problem loading this menu right now. Learn more about Amazon Prime. Get fast, free shipping with Amazon Prime. Get to Know Us. Age, marital duration, education, family income, divorce hazard, and childhood family stress are centered at means of each subsample in the analyses.

Just the Two of Us? How Parents Influence Adult Children’s Marital Quality

Significance tests are conducted to compare the difference between the two subsamples. Results in Table 1 shows that those in the mother subsample tend to be older, have longer marital duration, have lower risk for divorce, are more likely to have only one living parent, are less likely to have all of their children under 16, and are more likely to have at least one adult child than are those in the father subsample. We use latent linear growth-curve models i. In using growth-curve techniques, we are able to consider that individuals start the study period with different levels of marital strain and closeness and that each individual may experience different rates of change in marital strain and closeness as a function of support and strain in relationships with parents.

A major advantage of growth-curve models over traditional regression models is their ability to distinguish the two levels i. The model we used for this study can be specified as follows:. All time varying covariates indexed by TVX kij , including income and parental status are included in Level 1 of the model, and all other time invariant covariates indexed by X ki are included in Level 2 of the model.

Consistent with past research Umberson, Williams, Powers, Chen et al. Tables 2 — 5 show results from the growth-curve analysis and present the estimated effects of the parental support and strain measures and other covariates on the baseline level latent intercept and the rate of change latent slope in marital strain and closeness over time. Age, gender, race, education, family income, marital duration, previously divorced, divorce hazard, parental status and only one living parent are all controlled in all models. All significant age and marital duration interaction effects discussed in text are also controlled in models.

We first examine results from growth-curve models that estimated the effects of support and strain with parents on marital closeness and strain trajectories. We begin with the results on marital closeness. Results indicated that baseline support from mothers Panel A and from fathers Panel B was positively associated with baseline marital closeness.

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As Panel B shows, increased support from fathers T1 to T2 slowed the decline in marital closeness over time. Decreased support from fathers T1 to T2 fostered a more rapid decline in marital closeness over time. Next, we report results on marital strain. Results revealed that baseline strain with mothers and fathers was positively associated with baseline marital strain and that baseline support from mothers was negatively associated with baseline marital strain.

We first present results for age and marital duration interactions Table 3 beginning with results on marital closeness upper half of Table 3.

Home Away from Home: Relocating Your Parents | Family Caregiver Alliance

Age, gender, race, education, family income, marital duration, previously divorced, divorce hazard, parental status, and only one living parent are controlled in all models. Next, we report results for age and marital duration interactions on marital strain lower half of Table 3.

There were significant age and marital duration interaction effects for strain from mothers on baseline marital strain but not on the changing rate of trajectories. Results revealed a positive relationship between baseline mother strain and baseline marital strain for individuals 49 years old and younger and those married for 24 or fewer years, but this effect became negative for individuals older than 49 and those married more than 24 years.

We did not find significant gender interaction effects on baseline level or change in marital closeness or strain Table 4. Age, gender, race, education, family income, marital duration, previously divorced, divorce hazard, parental status and only one living parent are controlled in all models. We accomplished this by adding the childhood stress variable into models predicting marital closeness and strain in Model 1 of Table 5. Additional analyses not shown indicated that higher childhood stress was associated with lower levels of parental support and strain, but we did not find evidence that childhood stress was a significant predictor of marital closeness or strain.

We added interaction terms for childhood family stress with parent support and strain in Model 2 of Table 5 to predict growth trajectories of marital closeness and strain. We first discuss the results on marital closeness Model 2, upper half of Table 5. Results in Model 2, Panel A, of Table 5 indicated that, when childhood family stress was high above the mean level , those with higher baseline levels of strain from mothers had lower levels of marital closeness at baseline, but they experienced a less rapid decline in marital closeness over time.

Home Away from Home: Relocating Your Parents

In contrast, when childhood family stress was low below the mean level , those with higher baseline levels of strain from mother had higher levels of marital closeness at baseline but experienced a more rapid decline in marital closeness over time. Results in Model 2, Panel B, of Table 5 indicated that, when childhood family stress was low, those with higher baseline levels of support from fathers had higher levels of baseline martial closeness, but they experienced a more rapid decline in marital closeness over time.

When childhood family stress was high, those with higher baseline levels of support from fathers had lower levels of baseline closeness, but they experienced a slower decline in martial closeness over time. Moreover, an increase in strain from both mothers Panel A and fathers Panel B T1 to T2 slowed the decline in marital closeness over time for those with higher childhood family stress but fostered decline in marital closeness for those with lower childhood family stress. Marriage and family scholars emphasize that relationships with people outside the marital dyad have significant effects on the marital quality of the dyad Bryant et al.

Considering these literatures together, we hypothesized that the quality of relationships with parents would affect the marital quality of adult children. Our results suggest that relationships with parents influence the marital quality of adult children, and that the nature of these effects depend on the gender of the parent, the age, and marital duration of the adult child, and how much family stress the adult child experienced during childhood.

Yet our longitudinal findings suggest differences in the ways mothers and fathers influence the marital quality of adult children over time. Although we hypothesized that mothers would have more influence on the marital quality of their adult children, only support from fathers, as well as an increase in support from fathers over time, slowed the decline in marital closeness that tends to occur over time. Receiving unanticipated support may foster feelings of positive affect and facilitate closeness between spouses. Alternatively, the type of support measured in this analysis i.

We note that, contrary to expectations, relationships with parents affected the marital quality of adult sons and daughters in similar ways. In contrast, our study revealed that the parent — adult child relationship shapes marital quality in different—but not less significant—ways depending on age and marital duration. Support from mothers and fathers was positively associated with baseline levels of marital closeness for young to midlife adult children and for those with shorter marital durations but negatively associated for mid-to late-life adult children and for those with longer marital durations.

Alternatively, nonnormative support from parents to those married longer and those in mid- to late life may be a source of alternative companionship, thus creating conflict between spouses Felmlee, Our results in regard to strain with parents suggest that those who are older or married longer may be better able to manage strain from parents in ways that bolster marital closeness and protect against increasing marital strain, whereas younger individuals and those with shorter marital durations have not developed such mechanisms. Previous studies have found that people with more childhood stress were more reactive to stress in adulthood Dannerfer, and that marital quality diminished more rapidly in response to stress for adults who experienced high levels of childhood family stress Umberson, Williams, Powers, Liu et al.

Consistent with these studies, our baseline results revealed that strained ties with mothers were negatively associated with marital closeness only for those with higher levels of childhood stress, whereas supportive ties with fathers were positively associated with marital closeness only for those with lower levels of childhood stress. In contrast, however, our longitudinal findings suggest that adult children who reported higher levels of childhood stress had levels of marital closeness that were less adversely affected by strain with mothers, less adversely affected by increasing levels of strain with mothers and fathers, and more positively affected by support from fathers.

It may be that adult children with a history of stress in relationships with parents have learned how to cope with strain in ways that protect against marital strain. Similarly, this legacy may make those who grew up with high levels of childhood family stress more likely to react positively to what may be unexpected support from fathers.

Alternatively, those with higher levels of childhood stress may have different types of relationships with parents. Strained relationships with parents may be less salient—and supportive relationships more salient—to adult children who experienced greater childhood family stress. Adult levels of marital closeness, in turn, may be affected. We are unable to address several issues in this article that warrant further attention.

There are theoretical reasons to expect that other types of support e. Because of measurement constraints in the ACL data, we were unable to consider other aspects of the parent-child tie in our analysis. Further, although we used growth-curve analysis of longitudinal data, the analysis remained susceptible to some issues of causality.

For example, because the same time points were used to partially determine the slope of marital quality, it is possible that the marital relationship partially affected relationships with parents or that other external factors jointly shaped marital relationships and parent — adult child ties. Even with limitations, the current study extends past research by using national, longitudinal data that allow for a consideration of the consequences of the parent — adult child tie on trajectories of change in marital quality over an 8-year period. It is notable that our results revealed more significant findings on marital closeness than on marital strain, and research should further investigate the ways marital closeness and strain have different predictors across the life course.


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Despite this evidence, few studies have examined how supportive aspects of relationships with parents in childhood might influence positive dimensions of marital quality later in life. Moreover, our attention to the how levels of childhood stress shaped the effect of relationships with parents on marital quality adds to a burgeoning area of research on the complex ways that childhood experiences buffer against, or contribute to, the effects of later life stressors Dannefer, Given this evidence, future research should further investigate the ways early childhood and adult relationships with parents remain important in the lives of adult children.

This article was edited by Cheryl Buehler. National Center for Biotechnology Information , U. Author manuscript; available in PMC Aug 8. Author information Copyright and License information Disclaimer. See other articles in PMC that cite the published article. Selection Bias Selection bias based on the possibility of divorce is a potential problem for an analysis of marital quality over time.

Measures Marital quality Life course and marital quality researchers suggest that periods of marital strain and closeness are conceptually and empirically distinct with different correlates and should be analyzed separately Bradbury et al. Parent support and strain We used four variables to measure support and strain from parents based on constructed indices in the ACL data: Childhood family stress The childhood family stress measure is based on reports of seven family stressors that occurred when the respondent was age 16 or younger: Life course and sociodemographic variables We included measures for age in years of the respondent and marital duration in years, at Wave 1.

Open in a separate window. Analytical Design We use latent linear growth-curve models i. The model we used for this study can be specified as follows: Marital Closeness and Marital Strain We first examine results from growth-curve models that estimated the effects of support and strain with parents on marital closeness and strain trajectories. Discussion Marriage and family scholars emphasize that relationships with people outside the marital dyad have significant effects on the marital quality of the dyad Bryant et al.

Limitations and Considerations for Future Research We are unable to address several issues in this article that warrant further attention. Footnotes This article was edited by Cheryl Buehler. Father—child relations, mother —child relations, and offspring psychological well-being in early adulthood. Journal of Marriage and the Family. Amato PR, Booth A. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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Solidarity, conflict, and ambivalence: Complementary or competing perspectives on intergenerational relationships? Journal of Marriage and Family. Booth A, Amato PR. Parental marital quality, parental divorce, and relations with parents. Research on the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction: A decade in review. Bryant C, Conger R. Marital success and domains of social support in long-term relationships: Does the influence of network members ever end?

The influence of in-laws on change in marital success. Application of hierarchical linear models to assessing change. Cooney TM, Uhlenberg P. Support from parents over the life course: Network structure, network support, and the marital satisfaction of husbands and wives. Australian Journal of Psychology.