Table 1.
Characteristics of Young Adult Children and Their Parents
| Adult offspring (N = 152) | Parents (N = 235) | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Fathers (n = 118) | Mothers (n = 117) | ||
| Variables | M (SD) | M (SD) | M (SD) |
| Individual characteristics | |||
| Demographics | |||
| Age | 24.64 (3.06) | 56.64 (4.53) | 53.98 (5.46) |
| Female, % | 58 | — | — |
| Years of education | 13.96 (1.99) | 14.69 (2.01) | 14.90 (1.82) |
| Working, % | 61 | 81 | 77 |
| Married or remarried, % | 16 | 81 | 82 |
| Rating of healtha | 3.63 (1.00) | 3.21 (1.03) | 3.29 (1.10) |
| Both parents living, % | 97 | — | — |
| Life problemsb, % | 62 | 64 | 68 |
| Relationship quality with parents | |||
| Positive relationship qualityc | — | 3.98 (0.93) | 4.28 (0.64) |
| Negative relationship qualityc | — | 2.34 (0.98) | 2.51 (1.04) |
| Daily characteristics | |||
| Receipt of parental advice | |||
| Had experience at least once that week, % | — | 62 | 76 |
| % of days adult children had experience | — | 21 | 31 |
| Perception of unwanted parental advice | |||
| Had experience at least once that week, % | — | 16 | 24 |
| % of days adult children had experience | — | 3 | 6 |
| Daily mood | |||
| Positive moodd | 3.13 (0.64) | — | — |
| Negative moode | 1.34 (0.44) | — | — |
Note: Participant (adult offspring) N = 152; parent N = 235; participant-parent N = 299; participant-day N = 948.
aRated 1 = poor to 5 = excellent.
b1 = Having at least one life problem and 0 = not having life problems.
cMean scores of two items rated 1 = not at all to 5 = a great deal.
dMean scores of six items rated 1 = none of the day to 5 = all of the day.
eMean scores of nine items rated 1 = none of the day to 5 = all of the day.