Relations Between Parents and their Adult Children

The quality of parent–child relations is not just of great importance while the next generation is passing through childhood and adolescence. Even when children are grown up, the way that the generations relate to each other continues to play an important role in the well-being of both. A series of studies have confirmed that satisfying and harmonious contacts between parents and their adult children impact positively on their physical and mental well-being. ¹ However, it also has to be taken into account that relations between the younger and older adult generations possess a history whose roots lie in early parent–child relations. Therefore, one of the questions tackled in this chapter is whether and to what extent we can trace back the quality of the current relationship between parents and their children (i.e., as assessed in the year 1992) to the earlier pattern of relations in 1976. This first calls for a brief description of the instrument constructed to survey current parent–child relations.