Description
Introduction
A growing body of research demonstrates the fundamental ways in which the lives of parents and children are interconnected throughout the life course (Bengtson & Allen 1993; Lye 1996; Umberson 1992; Umberson et al. 2005). However, relatively little research has examined the implications of this enduring parent–child tie on the marital quality of their adult children (Reczek et al. 2010). Research shows that parental influence on the lives of adult children wanes but does not altogether cease, as children grow into adulthood (Cooney & Uhlenberg 1992; Sarkisian & Gerstel 2008; Umberson 1992). Parents are likely to continue to provide their adult child with emotional, practical, and financial support well into adulthood (Cooney and Uhlenberg 1992; Lye 1996). As children marry, however, the salience of the parent–child relationship further diminishes because parents assume a secondary role in providing social support in relation to the spouse (Bryant and Conger 1999...
References
Amato, P. R., & Booth, A. (2001). The legacy of parent’s marital discord: Consequences for children’s marital quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81(4), 627–638.
Bengtson, V. L., & Allen, K. R. (1993). The life course perspective applied to families over time. In P. Boss, W. J. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. R. Schumm, & S. K. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 469–504). New York: Springer.
Booth, A., & Amato, P. R. (1994). Parental marital quality, parental divorce, and relations with parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 56, 21–34.
Bryant, C. M., & Conger, R. M. (1999). Marital success and domains of social support in long term relationships: Does the influence of network members ever end? Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 437–450.
Bryant, C. M., Conger, R. D., & Meehan, J. M. (2001). The influence of in-laws on change in marital success. Journal of Marriage and Family, 63(3), 614–626.
Bucx, F., van Wel, F., & Knijn, T. (2012). Life course status and exchanges of support between young adults and parents. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(1), 101–115.
Cooney, T. M., & Uhlenberg, P. (1992). Support from parents over the life course: The adult child’s perspective. Social Forces, 71(1), 63–84.
Felmlee, D. H. (2001). No couple is an Island: A social network perspective on dyadic stability. Social Forces, 79(1), 1259–1287.
Högnäs, R. S., & Carlson, M. J. (2010). Intergenerational relationships and union stability in fragile families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(5), 1220–1233.
Lye, D. N. (1996). Adult child-parent relationships. Annual Review of Sociology, 22, 79–102.
Reczek, C., Lui, H., & Umberson, D. (2010). Just the two of us? How parent’s influence adult children’s marital quality. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72, 1205–1219.
Sarkisian, N., & Gerstel, N. (2008). Till marriage do us part: Adult children’s relationship with their children. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70, 360–376.
Umberson, D. (1992). Relationships between adult children and their parents: Psychological consequences for both generations. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54(3), 664–674.
Umberson, D., Williams, K., Powers, D. A., & Needham, B. (2005). Stress in childhood & adulthood: Effects on marital quality over time. Journal of Marriage and Family, 67, 1332–1347.
Ward, R., & Spitze, G. (1998). Sandwiched marriages: The implications of child and parent relations for marital quality in midlife. Social Forces, 77(2), 647–666.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2023 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Underhill, M.R. (2023). Marital Quality of Adult Children and Parental Influence. In: Maggino, F. (eds) Encyclopedia of Quality of Life and Well-Being Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_3867
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-17299-1_3867
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-17298-4
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-17299-1
eBook Packages: Social SciencesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences