ABSTRACT
The parent-child relationship attracts considerable interest in both the mass media and scientifi c research. We know a great deal about parents and young children but considerably less about parents and grown children. It is particularly important to examine this relationship in adulthood and old age, not only because of its longevity, but also because it is often the only relationship in which two people from vastly different developmental stages and cohorts attempt to maintain a close and mutually supportive relationship across a lifetime.
