ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a demographic perspective on young adulthood, and provides an overview of the parent-young adult relationship. It examines the continuity of the relationship over time, and discusses elder abuse by adult children. The chapter focuses on middle-aged children and the help that elderly parents receive from and their adult children. The parent-adult child relationship continues but unfolds along different lines for each party, and becomes more reciprocal. Parents generally look forward to seeing their young adults settle down with a good job and later on with a family of their own. There are strong indications that adult children’s departure is related to an improvement in the parents’ marital relationship. The chapter explores the issue of personality stability and change as it impacts on the relationship between young adults and their parents. Because personalities guide patterns of interaction and are relatively stable after young adulthood, the personalities of parents and children add continuity to the relationship they developed earlier.
