Conceptualizing and measuring intergenerational ambivalence in later life.

Area of Science:

• Gerontology
• Psychology
• Sociology

Background:

• Intergenerational relationships are crucial for understanding family dynamics and individual well-being.
• Ambivalence in parent-adult child relationships can manifest in direct and indirect ways, influencing mental health.
• Previous research has not fully explored the congruence of different measurement approaches across generations and genders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between direct and indirect measures of intergenerational ambivalence.
• To compare these associations based on generational position (mother vs. adult child) and child's gender.
• To determine if these measures predict depressive symptoms and positive affect similarly across groups.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of data from 254 mothers (aged 72-82) and a randomly selected adult child.
• Utilizing a larger study on within-family differences in parent-adult child relations.
• Comparing direct and indirect measures of intergenerational ambivalence and their predictive power.

Main Results:

• Direct and indirect measures of ambivalence were strongly associated in mothers but weakly associated in adult children, particularly sons.
• Both measures predicted depressive symptoms and positive affect similarly for mothers, but not for their adult children.
• The congruence between direct and indirect measures showed the most significant differences when comparing mothers and sons.

Conclusions:

• Direct and indirect measures of intergenerational ambivalence may capture different constructs, especially for adult children and sons.
• Direct measures might be more advantageous than indirect measures when studying sons.
• Measurement approaches for intergenerational ambivalence should consider generation and gender to avoid interchangeable use.