Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2010 Mar;65B(2):145-53.
doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbp125. Epub 2010 Jan 4.

Adult children's problems and successes: implications for intergenerational ambivalence

Kira S Birditt  1 , Karen L Fingerman, Steven H Zarit
Affiliations

Adult children's problems and successes: implications for intergenerational ambivalence

Kira S Birditt et al. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2010 Mar.

Abstract

Ambivalence theory suggests that parents experience ambivalence due to conflicting desires to help children in need and to launch children into adulthood. This study examined parents' reports of their adult children's problems and successes and implications for ambivalence. Participants aged 40-60 years (302 men and 331 women from different families) reported on up to 3 of their adult children (N = 1,251). Men and women differentiated among children in ratings of problems, successes, and ambivalence. Men and not women reported greater ambivalence regarding children with more physical-emotional problems and less career success. Men and women reported greater ambivalence regarding children with less relationship success. Consistent with ambivalence theory, individuals feel more ambivalent regarding problematic and less successful children but men's ambivalence appears to be more sensitive to their children's problems and successes than women's ambivalence.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Aldous J, Klaus E, Klein D. The understanding heart: Aging parents and their favorite children. Child Development. 1985;56:303–316. - PubMed
    1. Arnett J. Emerging adulthood: A theory of development from the late teens through the twenties. American Psychologist. 2000;55:469–480. - PubMed
    1. Birditt KS, Miller LM, Fingerman KL, Lefkowitz ES. Tensions in the parent and adult child relationship: Links to solidarity and ambivalence. Psychology and Aging. 2009;24:287–295. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Birditt KS, Rott LM, Fingerman KL. ‘If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all’: Coping with interpersonal tensions in the parent-child relationship during adulthood. Journal of Family Psychology - PMC - PubMed
    1. Brackbill Y, Kitch D, Noffsinger WB. The perfect child (from an elderly parent’s point of view) Journal of Aging Studies. 1988;2:243–254.

Publication types