PARENTING AS A GENERATOR OF ADULT DEVELOPMENT - CONCEPTUAL ISSUES ANDIMPLICATIONS

Professionals and laypersons frequently state that the transition to p arenthood and engagement in parental roles set parents on strikingly d ifferent life-course trajectories than they would have experienced if they had never raised children. Specialists in life-span development a nd family studies discuss parenthood as though it is causally related to observed changes. However, while some theories and a handful of emp irical studies have outlined differences between parents and non-paren ts, there is great need for further conceptualization in this area bef ore empirical evidence can be marshalled to support or refute the cont ention that parenting is causally related to development. This paper s ynthesizes theory and empirical evidence from the fields of life-span development and family studies in an effort to further our understandi ng of the relationships between parenting and adult development.