Child-rearing antecedents of intergenerational relations in young adulthood: A prospective study

Data gathered from mothers on parenting and family climate when almost 1,00 0 children in the Dunedin, New Zealand, longitudinal study were 3, 5, 7, 9, 13, and 15 years of age were used to predict intergenerational relations b etween young adult children (age 26) and their middle-aged parents. Analyse s focused on distinct developmental epochs revealed greater prediction from the middle-childhood and early-adolescent periods than from the early-chil dhood years; most indicated that more supportive family environments and ch ild-rearing experiences in the family of origin forecasted more positive an d less negative parent-child relationships (in terms of contact, closeness, conflict, reciprocal assistance) in young adulthood, though associations w ere modest in magnitude. Some evidence indicated that (modestly) deleteriou s effects on intergenerational relations of experiencing relatively unsuppo rtive child-rearing environments in 1 but not 2 (of 3) developmental period s studied could be offset by relatively supportive family environments in t he remaining developmental periods.