Being Under-Benefited and Perceived Stress in the Relationship Between Aging Parents and Adult Children: The Moderating Role of Empathy.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

Previous studies examining the relationship between being under-benefited and stress among aging parents and their adult children have yielded mixed findings. Few studies have examined whether this positive association can be alleviated by state-level or trait-level factors. Given the positive effects of empathy on interpersonal exchanges, we tested the moderating role of empathy on the relationship between being under-benefited and perceived stress among aging parents and adult children in this 14-day diary study.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

A sample of 99 pairs of parents (  = 50.01 years,  = 4.53 years; 79.8% female) and children (  = 22.38,  = 3.49; 85.9% female) were recruited reported their level of being under-benefited in the exchange with their parent/child, perceived stress, and empathy as an affective state on a daily basis for 14 consecutive days, after completing a pretest which measured their trait empathy and demographic information.

RESULTS

For both parents and children, the positive under-benefited-stress association was only significant when they reported lower affective empathy on a daily basis. The association between the level of being under-benefited and stress was negative when children reported greater affective empathy on a daily basis. Children reported more perceived stress on the days their parents reported a greater level of being under-benefited. Such association was only significant in children with lower trait empathy. The negative association between children's being under-benefited and parents' perceived stress was only significant in parents with higher trait empathy.

DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS

These findings highlight the importance of empathy as a daily affect and a trait in the relationship between daily exchanges and mental health in the intergenerational contexts between aging parents and adult children.