Sex linkages and older parent-adult child interactions : effects on social activities, mutual assistance, and expectations for filial support

The study investigated patterns of social interaction between older parents and their adult children. The major purpose was to examine the effects of sex of parent, type of sex linkage (i.e., mother-daughter, mother-son, father-daughter father-son), and selected contextual variables on measures of social activity, help received from children, help given to children, and parental expectations for filial responsibility. Data from a random sample survey of adults aged 65 or older (n of parents=27l) were used to test the research hypotheses (North Carolina Agricultural Research Servide Project 13644). Based on the reports of earlier studies, it was predicted that mothers would engage in more frequent interaction with children and that the mother-daughter linkage would be characterized by the highest level of interaction. In addition, it was expected that daughters would live closer to parents than sons and contact parents more frequently. Statistical procedures for the analyses included multiple regression analysis, analysis of variance and covariance, multiple classification analysis, chi-square tests, and descriptive statistics