Mother-child relations in adulthood: immigrant and nonimmigrant families in the Netherlands

Based on the Model of Family Change, the authors examined how mother–child relations among non-Western immigrants and natives were characterized by patterns of solidarity. Latent Class Analysis was applied to data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (2004) on the practical and emotional support that Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean adult children gave and received from their mother (N = 1,267). A similar five-class typology in all origin groups revealed three types of full-interdependence (“reciprocal,” “upward,” and “downward”), emotional-interdependent, and independent mother–child relationship. Whereas full-interdependence prevailed among immigrants, Dutch were more characterized by downward-interdependence and emotional-interdependence. Irrespective of the child’s origin, independent relationships were uncommon. The results evidence the importance of emotional intergenerational ties in adulthood across families of different origins.
Based on the Model of Family Change, the authors examined how mother–child relations among non-Western immigrants and natives were characterized by patterns of solidarity. Latent Class Analysis was applied to data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study (2004) on the practical and emotional support that Dutch, Turkish, Moroccan, Surinamese, and Antillean adult children gave and received from their mother (N = 1,267). A similar five-class typology in all origin groups revealed three types of full-interdependence (“reciprocal,” “upward,” and “downward”), emotional-interdependent, and independent mother–child relationship. Whereas full-interdependence prevailed among immigrants, Dutch were more characterized by downward-interdependence and emotional-interdependence. Irrespective of the child’s origin, independent relationships were uncommon. The results evidence the importance of emotional intergenerational ties in adulthood across families of different origins.