Parent-child relationships and older adults' (mental) health in Europe and the United States

Abstract

With population aging in many Western societies, the (mental) health of older adults has gained political and societal importance, with research emphasizing both the supportive role of strong parent-child ties and the complex dynamics of 'too strong' or weak ties for older parents’ well-being. Against this background, this dissertation has two main objectives: first, to address two frequent methodological issues in social science - reverse causality and omitted variable bias - when examining the reciprocal links be-tween support from adult children, geographic proximity and parents' (mental) health, to provide clarity on previously inconsistent findings. Second, to expand the focus beyond strong parent-child ties and also consider weak parent-child ties, or parent-child disconnectedness, and their potential effects on and associations with mental health, paying particular attention to differences across marital status groups and gender. Data came from the German Ageing Survey (2008-2017), the Health and Retirement Study (2004-2018) and the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (2004-2022). The first two studies explored the bidirectional links between parent-child ties and parents' mental) health, finding that, first, instrumental help from children and older adults' self-rated health are not interrelated among German older adults, instead both are pre-dicted by their prior levels. Second, intergenerational coresidence, but not close proximity, negatively impacts parental mental health, particularly for fathers and 'White' U.S. older adults, with no reciprocal effects. The third and fourth studies examined parent-child disconnectedness, revealing, third, that dis-connectedness in Europe is more common among never married, divorced, and cohabiting men, though its mental health association is greater for parents, particularly mothers, with more stable relationships. Finally, disconnectedness during critical life transitions, such as a "silver split," has significant long-term mental health consequences for European silver splitters. Overall, this dissertation highlights the im-portance of applying advanced longitudinal methods when studying parent-child ties and older adults' (mental) health and focusing not only on strong, but also weak ties as potential factors of social isolation and mental health issues.