Intergenerational Solidarity and the Structure of Adult Child-Parent Relationships in American Families

The authors investigate the structure of intergenerational cohesion by examining social-psychological, structural, and transactional as-pects of adult child–parent relations. The authors use latent class analysis to develop a typology based on three underlying dimensions of intergenerational solidarity: affinity, opportunity structure, and function. The same five types are found for relations with both mothers and fathers: tight-knit, sociable, intimate but distant, oblig-atory, and detached. Relationship types are also differentiated by sociodemographic characteristics; relations with fathers and di-vorced parents tended to have the weakest cohesion. The authors conclude that adult intergenerational relationships in American families are structurally diverse but generally possess the potential to serve their members ’ needs