ABSTRACT

We investigated how elder care affects intergenerationalsolidarity for the young adult children of parents provi-ding care. The adult children of caregiving and noncaregivingfamilies completed questionnaires that measured norms for familyprimacy, affectual solidarity, and associational solidarity. Comparisonsof the two groups indicated that the adult children incaregiving families reported lower levels of affectual solidarity thanthe adult children in noncaregiving families did. Also, a marginallysignificant effect suggested that the adult children in caregivingfamilies experience a lower level of associational solidarity than theadult children of noncaregiving families do. We concluded that eldercare does have a negative effect on intergenerational solidarity ofyoung adults in American Families.