Department of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
Department of Sociology and Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2022 Jul 5;77(7):1325-1335. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab075.
Past research suggests that adult children who reform their deviant behaviors (i.e., problems with drugs/alcohol or the law) are more likely to become favored by their mothers, yet the reasons underlying this phenomenon are unclear. This study employs a longitudinal, qualitative approach to explore why adult children's behavioral reforms shape changes in maternal favoritism.
Analyses are based on qualitative interview data collected at 2 points 7 years apart from older mothers regarding their adult children in 20 families. Each of these families had a "prodigal child"-a child for whom desistance from deviant behaviors between the 2 waves was accompanied by newfound maternal favoritism.
Findings revealed 2 conditions under which mothers came to favor reformed deviants over their siblings. First, this occurred when adult children's behavioral reformations were accompanied by mothers' perceptions of these children as having grown more family-oriented. Second, this occurred when mothers came to see reformed deviants as exhibiting a stronger need and appreciation for maternal support, relative to their siblings.
Mothers' perceptions of children's behavioral reformations as being accompanied by greater dedication to family or reflecting a need for their mothers' support offer 2 explanations for why previously deviant adult children may become mothers' favored offspring. These findings contribute to a growing body of scholarship on the complexity of intergenerational relations by shedding new light on changing patterns of favoritism in families with a history of parental disappointment, conflict, and strain.
过去的研究表明，改过自新的成年子女（即有吸毒/酗酒或违法问题的子女）更有可能得到母亲的青睐，但这一现象背后的原因尚不清楚。本研究采用纵向、定性的方法来探讨为什么成年子女的行为改变会导致母亲的偏爱发生变化。
分析基于在 20 个家庭中，对 20 位年长母亲在 7 年的两个时间点上对其成年子女的定性访谈数据。这些家庭中的每一个都有一个“浪子”-一个在两个波次之间停止了不良行为的孩子，同时也得到了母亲新的青睐。
研究结果揭示了母亲开始偏爱改过自新的不良行为者而不是他们的兄弟姐妹的两个条件。首先，当成年子女的行为改变伴随着母亲认为这些孩子更有家庭观念时，就会发生这种情况。其次，当母亲开始认为改过自新的不良行为者相对于他们的兄弟姐妹表现出更强的需要和对母亲支持的欣赏时，就会发生这种情况。
母亲对孩子行为改变的看法，认为这些改变伴随着对家庭的更大投入，或者反映了对母亲支持的需求，这为为什么以前有不良行为的成年子女可能成为母亲偏爱的子女提供了两种解释。这些发现通过揭示在经历了父母失望、冲突和紧张的家庭中，偏爱模式的变化，为关于代际关系复杂性的不断增长的学术研究做出了贡献。
