Evidence map›Paper›PMID 33912909›Full record

ArticleThe journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences2022

Prodigal Children: Why Older Mothers Favor Their Once-Deviant Adult Children.

Reilly Kincaid, Marissa Rurka, J Jill Suitor, Megan Gilligan, Karl Pillemer, Liam Mohebbi, Nicholas Mundell

Open access · greenAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
1.1field-weighted citation impact, top 16% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.

Reilly KincaidDepartment of Sociology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-8855-0001
Marissa RurkaDepartment of Sociology and Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.
J Jill SuitorDepartment of Sociology and Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-2956-8084
Megan GilliganHuman Development and Family Studies, Iowa State University, Ames, USA.
Karl PillemerHuman Development, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.
Liam MohebbiJohn Marshall Law School, Arlington Heights, Illinois, USA.
Nicholas MundellDepartment of Psychological Science, Ball State University, Muncie, Indiana, USA.
Purdue University West Lafayette · USBall State University · USCornell University · USIowa State University · USJohn Marshall Law School · US

Funding

Pilot CoreP30AG022845 · NIA · WEILL MEDICAL COLL OF CORNELL UNIV · PI Manney Carrington Reid · 2003 to 2026
$15.2M
PARENT-ADULT CHILD RELATIONS: WITHIN FAMILY DIFFERENCESR01AG018869 · NIA · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI SUITOR, J. JILL · 2001 to 2011
$3.2M
Within-Family Differences Study-BereavementR56AG062767 · NIA · PURDUE UNIVERSITY · PI SUITOR, J. JILL · 2019 to 2019
$756k
NIA NIH HHS 1R56AG062767-01NIA NIH HHS P30 AG022845NIA NIH HHS R01 AG018869NIA NIH HHS R56 AG062767
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectivesPast 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.

methodAnalyses 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.

resultsFindings 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. DISCUSSION: 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.

Indexed as

Adult ChildrenMother-Child RelationsFemaleHumansIntergenerational RelationsMothersSiblingsFamily sociologyIntergenerational relationsQualitative methodsWithin-family differences

Identifiers

PMID33912909
PMCPMC9255942
OpenAlexW3158398624

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.