Adult Family Study

Ties between parents and children often last a life time. When children are young, societal norms and laws require parents to take care of them. But parents and children don't have to help one another after the offspring grow up. What do parents and children do for one another after the children leave home? Why do they do these things?

The Adult Family Study will examine these issues among adults aged 40 to 60 who reside in the Philadelphia area, their grown children, and their aging parents. Participants will complete telephone interviews or web-based surveys and answer questions about their family relationships.

For some people, family support is a mainstay of daily life, whereas other people rarely rely on family members for assistance. Knowing when and why family members help one another or choose not to help one another has implications for public policies.

Publications on Intergenerational Relationships:

Fingerman, K. L., & Dolbin-MacNab, M. (in press). Lessons from the baby boomers and their parents: How a cohort shapes an understanding of intergenerational ties. To appear in S. Willis & S. K. Whitbourne (Eds.), The baby boomers at midlife: Contemporary perspectives on middle age. Mahwah, N. J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Fingerman, K. L., & Hay, E. L. (2004). Intergenerational ambivalence in the context of the larger social network. In K. Luescher & K. Pillemer (Eds.), Intergenerational ambivalence. Amsterdam : Elsevier/JAI Press.

Fingerman, K. L., Nussbaum, J., & Birditt, K. S. (2004). Keeping all five balls in the air: Juggling family communication at midlife. In A. L. Vangelisti (Ed.), Handbook of family communication (pp. 135-152). Hillsdale , NJ : Erlbaum. [.pdf file]

Lefkowitz, E. S., & Fingerman, K. L. (2003). Positive and negative emotional feelings and behaviors in mother-daughter ties in late life.  Journal of Family Psychology, 17, 607 - 617.  [.pdf file]

Fingerman, K. L., & Hay, E. L. (2002). Searching under the streetlight? Age biases in the personal and family relationships literature. Personal Relationships, 9, 415-433.

Fingerman, K. L. (2001). Aging mothers and their adult daughters: A study in mixed emotions. New York : Springer. Reprinted as: Fingerman, K. L. (2003). Mothers and their adult daughters: Mixed emotions, enduring bonds. Amherst , NY : Prometheus Books. [ see book]

Fingerman, K. L. (2001). A distant closeness: Intimacy between parents and their children in later life.Generations, 25, 26-33. [ .pdf file]

Fingerman, K. L. (2000). “We had a nice little chat”: Age and generational differences in mothers' and daughters' descriptions of enjoyable visits. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 55, P95-P106. [.pdf file]

Fingerman, K. L. (1998). The good, the bad, and the worrisome: Complexities in grandparents' relationships with individual grandchildren. Family Relations, 47, 403-414. [.pdf file]

Fingerman, K. L. (1998). Tight lips: Aging mothers' and their adult daughters' responses to interpersonal tensions in their relationship. Personal Relationships, 5, 121-138.

Fingerman, K. L. (1997). Aging mothers' and their adult daughters' retrospective ratings of past conflict in their relationship. Current Psychology, 16, 131-154.

Fingerman, K. L. (1997). Being more than a daughter: Middle-aged women's conceptions of their mothers. Journal of Women and Aging, 9, 55-72.

Fingerman, K. L. (1996). Sources of tension in the aging mother and adult daughter relationship. Psychology and Aging, 11, 591-606. [.pdf file]

Fingerman, K. L. (1995). Aging mothers' and their adult daughters' perceptions of conflict behaviors. Psychology and Aging, 10, 639-650.