Table 1.
Characteristics of Middle-Aged Participants and Their Parents and Grown Offspring
| Middle-aged participants (G2; N = 633) |
Family members (N = 2,252) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aging parents (G1; n = 868) |
Grown offspring (G3; n = 1,384) |
|||||
| Variable | M | (SD) | M | (SD) | M | (SD) |
| Sociodemographic characteristics | ||||||
| Age | 50.70 | (4.99) | 77.05 | (6.81) | 25.19 | (5.80) |
| Malea, % | 48 | 37 | 52 | |||
| Years of education | 14.18 | (2.02) | 12.17 | (2.81) | 13.73 | (1.92) |
| Household incomeb | 4.40 | (1.45) | — | — | — | — |
| Physical healthc | 3.48 | (1.07) | 2.78 | (1.09) | 4.26 | (0.93) |
| Married or remarriedd, % | 70 | 49 | 18 | |||
| Workinge, % | 76 | 11 | 69 | |||
| Racial/ethnic minorityf, % | 37 | — | — | |||
| Number of parents | 1.37 | (0.48) | — | — | — | — |
| Number of siblings | 3.24 | (2.45) | — | — | — | — |
| Number of adult children | 2.19 | (1.24) | — | — | — | — |
| Distance from G2 (miles) | — | — | 235.77 | (660.70) | 188.66 | (613.36) |
| Coresiding with G2g, % | — | 9 | 23 | |||
| Biological tie with G2h, % | — | 97 | 87 | |||
| Relationship indicators | ||||||
| In-person contacti | — | — | 5.07 | (2.01) | 5.57 | (2.15) |
| Downward supportj | — | — | 3.55 | (1.40) | 4.68 | (1.68) |
| Upward supportj | — | — | 4.16 | (1.59) | 3.63 | (1.46) |
| Positive relationship qualityk | — | — | 3.98 | (0.90) | 4.02 | (0.90) |
| Negative relationship qualityk | — | — | 1.97 | (0.95) | 2.05 | (0.87) |
Notes. 2,252 parent-child ties nested within 633 participants.
1 = male and 0 = female.
Rated from 1 (less than $10,000) to 6 ($100,000 or more).
Rated from 1 (poor) to 5 (excellent).
1 = married or remarried and 0 = not married.
1 = working full-or part-time and 0 = not working.
1 = racial/ethnic minority and 0 = non-Hispanic White.
1 = coresiding with the middle-aged participant and 0 = not coresiding with the middle-aged participant.
1 = biological parent or child and 0 = not biological (step, adopted, or other).
Rated from 1 (less than once a year or never) to 8 (daily).
Mean of 6 types of support rated from 1 (less than once a year or never) to 8 (daily).
Mean of 2 items rated from 1 (not at all) to 5 (a great deal).