ABSTRACT
This chapter and the two that follow focus on adult children’s obligations to older family members. In this chapter, we set the stage for our studies of adults’ obligations by reviewing the literature on filial obligations, perceived responsibilities to in-laws, and obligations to stepparents. We also examine prior research on the effects of divorce and remarriage in the older generation on filial obligations to parents and on obligations to stepparents, and we review research on the effects of adult children’s marital transitions on assistance to older family members. In the two chapters that follow, we present our studies on obligations to older divorced parents and stepparents (chapter 6) and to parents and in-laws (chapter 7).
