ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the family histories of the Iowa parents and their resourceful or deprivational legacy in managing hard times. Using retrospective reports of early family experiences, it explores the effects of this experience: on the quality of adult relations with aging parents, and on personal self-confidence and positive interaction styles, qualities that promote healthy social relationships and the potential for coping successfully with stressful times. Relationship histories contribute to persistent patterns of family interaction that profoundly influence the propensity and ability of lineage systems to respond efficiently in times of distress. Although early family relationships may not explain a great deal of the variance of later relationship patterns, relationship histories provide an important element in understanding coping behaviors in times of stress. Styles of interaction affect the availability of support or the extensiveness of one's support network as well as one's ability to ask for and negotiate the terms of assistance with members of the support network.
