Kalmijn Matthijs, De Vries Jannes
Eur J Popul. 2009 Aug;25(3):257-276. doi: 10.1007/s10680-008-9176-4. Epub 2008 Dec 20.
Although much is known about changes in the conjugal family, little is known about trends in contact between parents and adult (independently living) children. Using unique survey data, we study changes in contact with the mother and the father in five western countries over a 15-year period (Austria, West Germany, Great Britain, the United States, and Italy). We describe changes and we examine the role of compositional changes in the trend. We find no evidence for a decline in intergenerational contact, in contrast to notions of individualism. In two countries, there has been an increase in contact with the mother and in three countries no net trend is observed. Contact with the father has not changed. Other forms of contact (e.g., telephone contact) have increased. Some compositional changes have had a downward pressure on the trend, leading to a decline in contact (i.e., rising education, declining church attendance), but these pressures have been compensated by counteracting compositional changes (declining sibsize) and by behavioral changes.
尽管我们对婚姻家庭的变化了解颇多，但对于父母与成年（独立生活）子女之间联系的趋势却知之甚少。利用独特的调查数据，我们研究了15年间五个西方国家（奥地利、西德、英国、美国和意大利）与母亲和父亲联系的变化情况。我们描述了这些变化，并考察了构成变化在这一趋势中的作用。与个人主义观念相反，我们没有发现代际联系减少的证据。在两个国家，与母亲的联系有所增加，在三个国家未观察到净趋势变化。与父亲的联系没有改变。其他形式的联系（如电话联系）有所增加。一些构成变化对这一趋势产生了下行压力，导致联系减少（即教育水平提高、去教堂做礼拜的人数减少），但这些压力已被抵消性的构成变化（家庭规模缩小）和行为变化所补偿。
