Adult Children's Monitoring Their Older Parents' Lives.
Saved in:
| Title: | Adult Children's Monitoring Their Older Parents' Lives. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Toyokawa, Noriko (AUTHOR), Darling, Nancy (AUTHOR), Toyokawa, Teru (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Journal of Adult Development. Mar2026, Vol. 33 Issue 1, p80-93. 14p. |
| Subjects: | Attitudes toward aging, Abuse of older people, Health status indicators, Risk-taking behavior, Sex distribution, Age distribution, Functional status, Emotions, Social role, Descriptive statistics, Structural equation modeling, Psychology of parents, Psychology of caregivers, Factor analysis, Social support, Data analysis software, Confidence intervals, Psychology of adult children, Intergenerational relations |
| Abstract: | Adult children's monitoring of their older parents' lives can cause tension in the relationship. The goal of this paper is to better understand 1) adult children's beliefs about what areas of their parents' lives they are obligated to monitor, 2) how adult children's beliefs about monitoring processes vary with age, gender, parent functioning, and contact, and 3) the association between monitoring processes and adult children's feelings towards their parents. It extends the literature on monitoring processes during later adulthood by distinguishing between older children's beliefs that they should monitor their parents, their knowledge of their parents' lives, and their beliefs about the extent to which parents are transparent in sharing information. Three hundred and eighty-one adult children in the United States completed a cross-sectional online survey. All respondents had at least one living parent with whom they were in contact at least once a month (N = 381, Mage = 60.03, SD = 7.67, age range = 45–74, 64% female, 85% White). A principal component analysis identified three areas adult children felt obligated to monitor: risk of exploitation, medical risk, and risk behaviors. Perceived monitoring responsibility and lack of parent transparency predicted fewer positive feelings and more negative and ambivalent feelings towards parents. Adult children who believed their parents were less transparent had less positive feelings and more negative and ambivalent feelings about their parents. More knowledge was associated with positive but not negative feelings or ambivalence. These results highlight the importance of understanding monitoring as a communication process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Journal of Adult Development is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
|
Full text is not displayed to guests.
Login for full access.
|
|
| Abstract: | Adult children's monitoring of their older parents' lives can cause tension in the relationship. The goal of this paper is to better understand 1) adult children's beliefs about what areas of their parents' lives they are obligated to monitor, 2) how adult children's beliefs about monitoring processes vary with age, gender, parent functioning, and contact, and 3) the association between monitoring processes and adult children's feelings towards their parents. It extends the literature on monitoring processes during later adulthood by distinguishing between older children's beliefs that they should monitor their parents, their knowledge of their parents' lives, and their beliefs about the extent to which parents are transparent in sharing information. Three hundred and eighty-one adult children in the United States completed a cross-sectional online survey. All respondents had at least one living parent with whom they were in contact at least once a month (N = 381, Mage = 60.03, SD = 7.67, age range = 45–74, 64% female, 85% White). A principal component analysis identified three areas adult children felt obligated to monitor: risk of exploitation, medical risk, and risk behaviors. Perceived monitoring responsibility and lack of parent transparency predicted fewer positive feelings and more negative and ambivalent feelings towards parents. Adult children who believed their parents were less transparent had less positive feelings and more negative and ambivalent feelings about their parents. More knowledge was associated with positive but not negative feelings or ambivalence. These results highlight the importance of understanding monitoring as a communication process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
|---|---|
| ISSN: | 10680667 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10804-025-09519-9 |
