Within-Family Variability in Representations of Past Relationships With Parents
Abstract
Background We examined within-family variation in siblings’ memories of experiences with parents and their associations with current positive and negative affect.
Methods Participants were 1,369 adults with at least 1 sibling, aged 26–74 years from 498 families in the MacArthur Study of Midlife in the United States (Mage = 47 years, 59% women, 94% White).
Results There was considerable variability in recalled maternal and paternal treatment across the dimensions of affection (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] 0.33 and 0.41, respectively), discipline (ICCs 0.39 and 0.43), and conflict (ICCs 0.24 and 0.26). In turn, recalled parental treatment, particularly affection, made unique contributions to current positive (ICC 0.12) and negative affect (ICC 0.08) over and above individual and familial level characteristics such as offspring demographic characteristics, extraversion and neuroticism, family structure, recalled early family environment, and parents' current status.
Conclusions Results link adults' memories of experiences with their parents in childhood to their current well-being and highlight the importance of considering within-family models for family theory.
Department
Family Studies
Publication Date
2009
Journal Title
Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences
Publisher
Oxford Journals
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
10.1093/geronb/gbn001
Document Type
Article
Recommended Citation
Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences - FAMILY MATTERS: Adam Davey, Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Karen Fingerman, and Jyoti Savla. Within-Family Variability in Representations of Past Relationships With Parents. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci (2009) 64B (1): 125-136 first published online January 1, 2009 doi:10.1093/geronb/gbn001
Rights
© The Author 2009. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.
Comments
Errata
In the article, “Within-Family Variability in Representations of Past Relationships with Parents,” by Adam Davey, Corinna Jenkins Tucker, Karen Fingerman, and Jyoti Savla, which was published in the Journal of Gerontology: Social Sciences on pages 125–136 of 64B(1), Dr. Tucker's affiliation is incorrectly listed as being located in Durham, North Carolina. The correct location is Durham, New Hampshire.
The publisher regrets the error.