Seeking help for parental concerns in the middle years

Abstract

This study focuses on a single problem--parents' concerns about their late adolescent and adult children--and traces the decision to seek assistance from the parental concerns which prompt it to the relief which may follow it. The extent of parents' concerns about their 16- to 35-year-old children was strongest when the family was in the midst of launching and the oldest child was 21 to 25. While parents reporting more concerns were more likely to be distressed, parental distress also differed by sex and parental optimism, especially at earlier family stages. Women and more pessimistic parents were more distressed. At later stages, these had little impact. Among help seekers, greater distress was associated with lesser use of family members and greater use of formal helpers. Parents with a strong sense of personal mastery were more likely to use formal helpers, particularly where lower income would otherwise predispose against use of formal help. Kind of help received rather than choice of helper was the strongest contributor to reported relief.