Abstract
The presence of family members in geographically close distance may function as location-specific resources that pool immediate and constant support for aging population. However, how geographic distance between parents and their children is associated with relationship quality is less known. Using mother-children pairs from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (NLSY79) and the NLSY79 Children and Young Adults (n=3,596), the current study examined how geographic distance between mothers (mean age=51) and young-adult children (mean age=27) was associated with relationship closeness. Pooled fixed-effects models were stratified by initial distance between mothers and children: living within 10 miles, living in 10–100 miles, or living 100+ miles away. Two questions (asked children) were used to measure relationship closeness: “who would you turn to for help with emotional or personal problem” (1=biological mother, 0=others) and “how close do you feel to mother?” (1=very close, 0=fairly or not very close). These responses were summed to create an indicator of overall closeness where 0=not close, 2=very close (ɑ=.82). Results showed that controlling for mothers’ life events (divorce/separation/death of spouse/employment/general health), moving farther was linked to improved relationship closeness (b=0.07, p<.01) among those whose children lived within 10 miles; among those whose children lived 100+ miles away, moving closer was marginally associated with improved relationship closeness (b=0.07, p≤ .10). Those whose children lived within 10–100 miles reported improved relationship closeness when they moved closer (b=0.16, p<.001) or farther (b=0.18, p<.001). Findings suggest that having geographic distance may help improve relationship closeness between parents and children.