MIDLIFE MARITAL-STATUS DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL SUPPORT RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADULT CHILDREN AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

This research examined marital status differences in attitudes about parental obligation, social support relationships with adult children, and psychological well-being using data from 3,002 midlife parents (age 35-64) of nonresident adult children interviewed by the National Survey of Families and Households 1987-1988. Remarried and single parents generally professed less belief in parental financial obligation to adult children than first marriage parents. Overall, parents in first marriages were the most likely to be giving support. Separated/divorced and widowed mothers were more likely to only receive support; remarried and single fathers were more likely to be uninvolved in support. Single and remarried mothers reported less happiness and more distress than first marriage mothers. Single fathers generally reported poorer psychological well-being than first marriage fathers, but there was a trend for remarried fathers to report somewhat more happiness. Support relationships affected the well-being of midlife mothers more than fathers. In general, giving to adult children (reciprocated or not) was associated with more well-being than only receiving from adult children.