Within-Family Differences in Parent-Child Relations Across the Life Course

Authors: Suitor, J. Jill¹; Sechrist, Jori¹; Plikuhn, Mari¹; Pardo, Seth T.²; Pillemer, Karl²

Source: Current Directions in Psychological Science, Volume 17, Number 5, October 2008 , pp. 334-338(5)

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Abstract:

Despite a powerful social norm that parents should treat offspring equally, beginning in early childhood and continuing through adulthood, parents often differentiate among their children in such domains as closeness, support, and control. We review research on how parent-child relationships differ within families, focusing on issues of parental favoritism and differential treatment of children. We begin by examining within-family differences in childhood and adolescence and then explore differentiation by older parents among adult children. Overall, we find considerable similarities across the life course in the prevalence, predictors, and consequences of parents' differentiation among their offspring.

Keywords: within-family differences; parental differential treatment; parental favoritism; parent-child relations; intergenerational relations

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8721.2008.00601.x

Affiliations: 1: Department of Sociology and Center on Aging and the Life Course, Purdue University, and 2: Department of Human Development, Cornell University

Publication date: 2008-10-01