Intergenerational ambivalence in adolescence and early adulthood: Implications for depressive symptoms over time.

Abstract

The parent-child relationship is often characterized by ambivalence, defined as the simultaneous experience of positive and negative relationship quality. This study examines reports of intergenerational ambivalence in three developmental periods: adolescence, emerging adulthood, and young adulthood, as well as its implications for depressive symptoms over a 12-year period. Participants aged 13 to 29 (n = 255) were interviewed in 1992 and again in 2005 at ages 25 to 41 (n = 186). Results indicate that offspring's reports of intergenerational ambivalence decreased over time. Greater ambivalence towards mothers predicted increased depressive symptoms over time while greater ambivalence towards fathers predicted decreased depressive symptoms over time. These results suggest that depressive symptoms in adulthood are vulnerable to the quality of the parent-child relationship earlier in the life course.

Intergenerational Ambivalence Among Iranian Refugee Families in Finland

“…Research shows that parents who experience greater ambivalence towards their children develop higher psychological distress (Fingerman et al 2008). Long-term INTERGENERATIONAL AMBIVALENCE AMONG IRANIAN REFUGEE FAMILIES IN FINLAND ambivalence in parent-child relations also causes a lower sense of well-being, such as depressive symptoms in children (Tighe, Birditt & Antonucci 2016). This ethnographic study develops an understanding of how intergenerational ambivalence is experienced by a group of Iranian refugee families in Finland.…”

Filial piety and intergenerational ambivalence among mother–adult child dyads in rural China

“…(1995), which asked respondents to rate their positive and negative attitudes towards the other party in the relationship and creates a numeric value representing the balance between these two feelings. Most studies only focus on combined ambivalence of both positive and negative feelings simultaneously using the Griffin measure (Birditt et al ., 2010; Tighe et al ., 2016), while other studies also examine these two components separately (Willson et al ., 2006; Ngai, 2014).…”

“…Previous studies have devoted much research to describing the sources or outcomes of ambivalence (Willson et al ., 2006; Birditt et al ., 2010; Kiecolt et al ., 2011; Tighe et al ., 2016), but few studies have examined the relationship between traditional culture and intergenerational ambivalence in developing countries. To fill this gap in the literature, the present study examines the relationships between filial piety and intergenerational ambivalence among mother–adult child dyads in rural China using the intergenerational ambivalence theory.…”

“…We focus on intergenerational ambivalence of elderly mothers and their adult children for several reasons. First, as the primary kinship keepers who maintain family relationships and promote affective interactions in the family (Leach and Braithwaite, 1996), mothers experience greater ambivalence compared to fathers (Tighe et al ., 2016). Second, as women's life expectancy generally is longer compared to men's (Le et al ., 2015), elderly mothers may experience a longer lifetime with adult children.…”

Guilt in Adult Mother–Child Relationships: Connections to Intergenerational Ambivalence and Support

“…In recent years, authors have proceeded to analyze the consequences of intergenerational ambivalence. One important hypothesis has been that the co-occurrence of positive and negative emotions has negative consequences for a person's emotional well-being (Fingerman, Pitzer, Lefkowitz, Birditt, & Mroczek, 2008;Kiecolt, Blieszner, & Savla, 2011;Lee & Szinovacz, 2016;Tighe, Birditt, & Antonucci, 2016). According to Fingerman et al (2008), "experiencing a mixture of emotions may be more detrimental than experiencing negative emotions alone, because individuals may adjust to a generally negative tone and no longer react strongly or they may avoid negative social partners" (p. 363).…”