Adult Children as Informants About Parent's Psychosocial Preferences

Utilizing data from 80 adult children-older parent dyads, this study examined the degree to which adult children could predict the psychosocial preferences of their older parents. Overall, children demonstrated good knowledge about parent preferences, although there was wide variability within the s...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Family relations 2006-12, Vol.55 (5), p.552-563
Main Authors: Carpenter, Brian D., Lee, Monica, Ruckdeschel, Katy, Van Haitsma, Kimberly S., Feldman, Penny H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult Children
Adults
Aging (Individuals)
Beliefs
Child growth
Children
Demography
Depressive disorders
Developmental psychology
Families & family life
family gerontology
Family Life
Family Life Education
Family members
Family relations
Family Relationship
Gerontology
Individual Characteristics
Intergenerational relations
Interpersonal relations
Interpersonal Relationship
Intervention
Knowledge
Laws
long-term care planning
Marital Status
Medical Services
Medical treatment
Mental Health
Modeling
Older Adults
Older parents
Parent Attitudes
Parent Child Relations
Parent Child Relationship
Parents
Parents & parenting
Parents and Children
Prediction
Preferences
Psychological Patterns
Psychosocial Factors
psychosocial preferences
Psychosociology
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Utilizing data from 80 adult children-older parent dyads, this study examined the degree to which adult children could predict the psychosocial preferences of their older parents. Overall, children demonstrated good knowledge about parent preferences, although there was wide variability within the sample and across preference domains. Children underestimated how important parents considered continued enrichment and personal growth. Knowledge was associated with parents' functional status and mood. Parent, but not child, perceptions of family flexibility and cohesion were related to children's knowledge. Findings suggest that family life education and intervention programs need to address contextual factors as a means to improve intergenerational knowledge and enhance the likelihood that parent preferences are considered in care planning.
ISSN:0197-6664
1741-3729
0197-6664
DOI:10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00425.x