MIDLIFE MARITAL-STATUS DIFFERENCES IN SOCIAL SUPPORT RELATIONSHIPS WITH ADULT CHILDREN AND PSYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING

This research examined marital status differences in attitudes about p arental obligation, social support relationships with adult children, and psychological well-being using data from 3,002 midlife parents (ag e 35-64) of nonresident adult children interviewed by the National Sur vey of Families and Households 1987-1988. Remarried and single parents generally professed less belief in parental financial obligation to a dult children than first marriage parents. Overall, parents in first m arriages were the most likely to be giving support. Separated/divorced and widowed mothers were more likely to only receive support; remarri ed and single fathers were more likely to be uninvolved in support. Si ngle and remarried mothers reported less happiness and more distress t han first marriage mothers. Single fathers generally reported poorer p sychological well-being than first marriage fathers, but there was a t rend for remarried fathers to report somewhat more happiness. Support relationships affected the well-being of midlife mothers more than fat hers. In general, giving to adult children (reciprocated or not) was a ssociated with more well-being than only receiving from adult children .