INTERGENERATIONAL EXCHANGES AND PERCEPTIONS OF SUPPORT WITHIN BOOMERANG KID FAMILY ENVIRONMENTS

Drawing on the social exchange perspective, we examine: 1) the extent to which adult children who have returned to the parental home (''boom erang kids'') exchange several types of instrumental and affective sup port with their parents, and 2) whether there is symmetry or incongrue nce in perceptions of support among these family dyads. The data used for this study are drawn from interviews with one child and one parent from 218 families in which the child has recently returned home. Find ings indicate that children receive more frequent instrumental and emo tional (affective) support than parents receive, and that parents perc eive that they receive considerably more emotional support than boomer ang children acknowledge donating. Implications for family relationshi ps over the life course and household living arrangements are consider ed.