title: Young Adults' Provision of Support to Middle-Aged Parents.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Middle-aged adults often provide support to aging parents, but researchers know little about support that young adults provide middle-aged parents. This study examined support that young adults provide parents and explanations for that support from both offspring's and parents' perspectives.
  
  
  METHODS
  Young adults (n = 515, mean age = 22.34) and their parents (n = 364, mean age = 50.09) from the Family Exchanges Study reported support that offspring provide parents. Participants also reported parental personal problems, parental disability status, relationship quality, and support that parents provide offspring.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Offspring provided parents with emotional support and listening more often than other forms of support. Offspring reported providing more frequent support than parents reported receiving. We examined factors associated with support using multilevel models. Both offspring and parents reported more frequent support provided to parents when they had higher quality relationships and when parents gave more frequent support to offspring. Offspring (but not parents) reported providing more frequent support to parents when parents were disabled.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings are consistent with solidarity theory, which suggests that high-quality relationships may explain support. The concept of self-enhancement and generativity in middle-aged parents may explain the intergenerational differences in the association between parental disability and support.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin. ypcheng@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Yen-Pi
authors.initials: YP
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.affiliation: Institute of Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
authors.forename: Kira S
authors.initials: KS
authors.lastname: Birditt
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park.
authors.forename: Steven H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zarit
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, University of Texas at Austin.
authors.forename: Karen L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Fingerman
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D015143:Philadelphia; D012944:Social Support; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: Family; Intergenerational relationships; Social support.