Correlates of Aged Parents' Filial Responsibility Expectations and Realizations

The concept of responsibility refers to adult offsprings' obligations to meet the needs of their aging parents. It emphasizes duty and is usually associated with protection, care, and economic support (Schorr, 1960). Specific varieties of responsibility include personal contact with parents, financial aid to them, shared living arrangements, and assistance in meeting their daily needs. Recent extensions in life expectancy have produced considerable generational overlap so that today the obligations of responsibility have become all the more a reality for greater numbers of families (Nye & Berardo, 1973; Simos, 1970). Blenkner (1965) discussed filial as a kind of developmental stage stemming from the resolution of a filial crisis, which typically occurs in the middle years. Filial maturity is achieved when offspring realize that parents are becoming dependent upon them. Related Literature