Department of Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 211 Oswald Tower, University Park, PA 16802, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2013 Sep;68(5):825-36. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbt070. Epub 2013 Aug 1.
This study examined whether religious adults (measured by the frequency of attendance at religious services) report more extensive ties with their parents.
Using data from the National Survey of Families and Households (N = 9,002), a series of bivariate and multivariate regression models were tested. Several dimensions of adult children's relationships with their parents were considered including relationship quality, frequency of contact, providing care to parents, and providing other assistance.
Adult children who attended religious services more frequently were significantly more likely to provide assistance to parents, and they reported higher quality relationships and more frequent contact with both their fathers and mothers. Results were similar for sons and daughters, and for younger and older adult children.
A better understanding of what motivates and fosters strong ties between adult children and their parents is vitally important given the "graying" of America and the consequences of such ties for the health and well-being of both generations. Religion is only one of many factors associated with adult children's ties to parents, and this association is generally modest, but it is an important factor that should be given greater attention in future research.
本研究考察了是否宗教信仰成年人（通过参加宗教服务的频率来衡量）与父母的联系更广泛。
使用来自全国家庭和住户调查（N=9002）的数据，测试了一系列双变量和多变量回归模型。考虑了成年子女与父母关系的几个维度，包括关系质量、联系频率、为父母提供照顾以及提供其他帮助。
参加宗教服务更频繁的成年子女更有可能为父母提供帮助，并且他们报告与父母双方的关系质量更高，联系更频繁。对于儿子和女儿以及年轻和年长的成年子女，结果相似。
鉴于美国的“老龄化”以及这种关系对两代人的健康和幸福的影响，更好地理解是什么激发和促进成年子女与父母之间的紧密联系至关重要。宗教只是与成年子女与父母关系相关的众多因素之一，这种关联通常是适度的，但它是一个重要的因素，应该在未来的研究中给予更多关注。
