To Have or Have Not: Parent Status and the Subjective Well-being of Older Men and Women

Abstract

Data from a multi-stage quota sample of adults aged 55 and over were used to examine the effect of parent status on three measures of subjective well-being--avowed happiness, depression, and satisfaction with life. Unlike other studies, we employed four categories of parent status: close parents, distant parents, those who chose not to have children, and those who are childless by circumstance. We found significant differences in subjective well-being between close parents and distant parents, and between close parents and the childless by circumstance but not the childless by choice. We also found important differences, by gender, in which factors predict subjective well-being.

Psychological Implications of Motherhood and Fatherhood in Midlife: Evidence From Sibling Models

“…The main differences in mental health arise due to specific configurations of the parental role, which underscores the importance of examining heterogeneity among middle-aged parents. Consistent with previous research (Connidis & McMullin, 1993;Koropeckyj-Cox, 2002), the quality of parent-child relationships is strongly related to mental health of both mothers and fathers, as predicted by the parental role hypothesis. The structural and qualitative aspects of the parental role are significantly related to mental health net of each other.…”

“…Existing research emphasizes the importance of the quality of relationships with adult children for parents' mental health. Studies consistently indicate that gratifying parent-adult child relationships are associated with high levels of parents' psychological well-being, whereas poorer intergenerational ties are linked to worse psychological outcomes for both mothers and fathers (Connidis & McMullin, 1993;KoropeckyjCox, 2002;Pillemer & Suitor, 1991). These findings suggest that the psychological benefits of parenthood are conditional on satisfying relationships with adult children (Koropeckyj-Cox 2002).…”

Happiness: Before and After the Kids

“…For example, young parents show higher levels of distress than non-parents (Cleary and Mechanic 1983;Gore and Mangione 1983;Lovell-Troy 1983;Margolis and Myrskyla 2011;McLanahan and Adams 1987). At older ages, there is no difference in well-being by parental status (Connidis and McMullin 1993;Koropeckyj-Cox et al 2007;Rempel 1985;Ross and Huber 1985), or parents have even higher levels of well-being than the childless (Margolis and Myrskyla 2011). These cross-sectional analyses provide important insights into the fertility-happiness association, but have limited power in informing us about causal relationships.…”

Childlessness and psychological well‐being in Chinese older adults

“…Some researchers explained these inconsistent findings by arguing that childless older adults may be able to receive social support from other sources such as siblings, friends, and neighbors (Cantor, 1979;Dykstra, 1993) or the poor relationship quality between older parents and their adult children may bring more harm than good to their psychological well-being (Rook, 1984;Connidis and McMullin, 1993;Umberson et al, 1996). Even though there was a significant relationship between childlessness and psychological well-being in some studies, the relation disappeared once the marital status of older adults has been taken into account (Koropeckyj-Cox, 1998;Zhang and Hayward, 2001).…”