Parent–Child Relationships and Parent Psychological Distress

Abstract

Relationships with children are important for parents’ psychological well-being, yet limited research addresses whether and how relationships with adult children matter for aging parents’ psychological well-being in mid- to later life. We used four waves of national longitudinal data (Americans’ Changing Lives, N = 1,692) and growth curve models to test how multiple dimensions of the intergenerational relationship—social support, strain, equity, and dissatisfaction—shape mid- to later life parents’ psychological distress over time. Results showed that social support and strain were associated with parents’ distress at baseline but not over time, while relationship equity and dissatisfaction affected change in parents’ psychological distress over time. Findings further showed how the effects of dissatisfaction varied for mothers and fathers. This study adds to an understanding of the social context of aging by drawing attention to how specific dimensions of the parent–child tie matter longitudinally for mid- to later life parents’ psychological distress.