Peer-reviewed article
AS YOU SOW, SO SHALL YOU REAP: ADULTS' MEMORIES' EFFECT OF PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE REJECTION IN CHILDHOOD ON AGING PARENTS
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Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This peer-reviewed study examines how adult children's memories of parental acceptance or rejection in childhood influence their caregiving behavior toward aging parents. Using interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory, researchers found that adults who recalled feeling rejected by their parents in childhood reported fewer positive caregiving behaviors, less satisfaction with social activities, and less overall concern for their aging parents. The study suggests that parental rejection in childhood may result in reduced support for parents in old age. The research involved 41 adult offspring participants.
Key points
- Adults with childhood memories of parental rejection reported fewer positive caregiving behaviors toward aging parents
- Those who felt rejected spent less time with aging parents and visited less frequently
- Participants with rejection memories showed less satisfaction with social activities with their parents
- Results support interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory predictions about intergenerational relationship patterns
- Study findings may help understand well-being of aging adults through the lens of early parent-child relationships
Limitations
This study focuses on adult offspring and aging parents, not on child well-being directly. The research measures adults' retrospective memories of childhood experiences rather than actual child outcomes or child well-being in real time.
Abstract
Abstract Little is known how adults’ memories of parental acceptance-rejection in childhood influence their behavior toward their aging parents. Grounded in interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory (IPARTheory), this study attempts to better understand how early parent-child relationships affect adult offspring who provide care to their parents in later life. Data were collected from 41 adult offspring. Findings revealed that adults who felt rejected by their parents in childhood reported fewer positive caregiving behaviors toward their now aging parents, were less satisfied with social activities with their parents, spent less time with them or visited them less frequently, and revealed less overall concern for their aging parents. Results were consistent with IPARTheory’s expectations that if parents reject their children, then parents place their own dependent old age at the risk of counter rejection: As you sow, so shall you reap. Such findings may help researchers, clinicians, and practitioners better understand the well-being of aging adults.