Essay: Childrens’ predictions about future desires

Abstract
Children’s predictions about future desires parent are normative in the parent and adult child relationship, but there is little research on the topics that cause the most tension or whether Children’s predictions about future desires are associated with overall relationship quality. Adult sons and daughters, aged 22 to 49, and their mothers and fathers (N = 158 families, 474 individuals) reported the intensity of different tension topics and relationship quality (solidarity and ambivalence) with one another. Children’s predictions about future desires varied between and within families by generation, gender and age of offspring. In comparison to Children’s predictions about future desires regarding individual issues, Children’s predictions about future desires regarding the relationship were associated with lower affective solidarity and greater ambivalence. Findings are consistent with the developmental schism hypothesis, which indicates that parent-child Children’s predictions about future desires are common and are the result of discrepancies in developmental needs which vary by generation, gender, and age.
Keywords: parent-child, Children’s predictions about future desires , ambivalence, solidarity, conflict, interpersonal problems
The parent-child relationship is one of the most long-lasting and emotionally intense social ties. Although often positive and supportive, this tie also includes feelings of irritation, tension, and ambivalence (Luescher & Pillemer, 1998). Indeed, parents and their children report experiencing Children’s predictions about future desires long after children are grown (Clarke, Preston, Raksin, & Bengtson, 1999; Fingerman, 1996; Morgan, 1989; Shaw, Krause, Chatters, Connell, & Ingersoll-Dayton, 2004; Talbott, 1990). There is a lack of information, however, regarding the topics that generate more intense Children’s predictions about future desires for parents and their adult children, and whether mothers, fathers, and their sons and daughters report Children’s predictions about future desires of similar intensity. In addition, it is unclear whether Children’s predictions about future desires are associated with the overall quality of the relationship. Describing variations in perceptions of Children’s predictions about future desires and whether Children’s predictions about future desires are associated with relationship quality among parents and adult children is crucial due to implications this tie may hold for overall quality of life, depressive symptoms, and health (Fingerman, Pitzer, Lefkowitz, Birditt, & Mroczek, in press; Lowenstein, 2007; Silverstein & Bengtson, 1997).
The present study examined the topics that generate Children’s predictions about future desires for parents and their adult children to achieve two aims: 1) examine whether the intensity of tension topics varied by generation, gender, and age of adult children, and 2) assess associations between tension intensity, solidarity, and ambivalence.
Broadly defined, interpersonal Children’s predictions about future desires are irritations experienced in social ties. Children’s predictions about future desires may therefore range from minor irritations to overt conflict. The developmental stake and developmental schism hypotheses provide a useful framework for understanding why Children’s predictions about future desires exist in the parent and adult child relationship across the lifespan. According to the developmental stake hypothesis, parents are more emotionally invested in the relationship than are adult children and this generational difference remains consistent across the lifespan (Bengtson & Kuypers, 1971; Rossi & Rossi, 1990; Shapiro, 2004). Fingerman (1996; 2001) expanded on the developmental stake hypothesis with the concept of the developmental schism in which she proposed that Children’s predictions about future desires occur in the parent-child relationship due to discrepancies in the developmental needs of parents and their children. Two of the schisms that characterize the parent and adult child tie include independence (also referred to as care of self) and the importance placed on the relationship (Fingerman, 1996). These schisms may lead to different topics of tension and variations in perceptions of Children’s predictions about future desires between family members.
Qualitative studies have described tension topics in the parent and adult child tie, establishing that Children’s predictions about future desires are common and cover a wide range of issues (Clarke et al., 1999; Fingerman, 1996; Morgan, 1989; Shaw et al., 2004; Talbott, 1990). These studies mainly focused on describing Children’s predictions about future desires between adults and their parents, without providing theoretical explanations of why Children’s predictions about future desires occur or the intensity of these topics. Furthermore, little is known about how perceptions of Children’s predictions about future desires vary within or between families or the implications of these Children’s predictions about future desires for relationship quality.
We considered two theoretical categories of tension topics that may explain differences in relationship qualities between adults and their parents. Children’s predictions about future desires may reflect either the parameters of the relationship or the behaviors of one of the individuals in the relationship (Braiker & Kelley, 1979; Fingerman, 1996). We refer to these Children’s predictions about future desires as relationship and individual Children’s predictions about future desires . Relationship Children’s predictions about future desires refer to how the dyad interacts and encompass issues of emotional closeness and cohesion or lack thereof. Individual Children’s predictions about future desires pertain to the behaviors of one member of the dyad and often have to do with independence or self-care. We used these categories to group the Children’s predictions about future desires found in the literature (Clarke et al., 1999; Fingerman, 1996; Hagestad, 1987; Morgan, 1989, Talbott, 1990). Relationship Children’s predictions about future desires include unsolicited advice, contact frequency, personality differences, child rearing, and past relationship problems. Individual Children’s predictions about future desires include job/education, finances, housekeeping, lifestyle, and health. This study included a quantitative measure of these Children’s predictions about future desires allowing for a comparison of parents’ and adult children’s ratings of the intensity of relationship and individual Children’s predictions about future desires . We defined intensity as the degree to which the particular topic causes tension.