Intergenerational differences and similarities in economic well-being, family context, health, and life experiences among older adult parents and their middle-aged children: data from the Add Health and Add Health Parent Studies.

Authors

Kathleen Mullan Harris, Todd M Jensen, Naomi N Duke, Krista M Perreira, V Joseph Hotz

Published in

The journals of gerontology. Series B, Psychological sciences and social sciences. Volume 81. Issue Supplement_2. Pages S179-S192. Oct 01, 2026.

Abstract

We examined the strength of intergenerational associations between midlife adults in Add Health and their Baby Boomer parents from the Add Health Parent Study (AHPS) across numerous substantive domains.
Using linked data from AHPS Phase 1 (2015-2017), a subset of parents of Add Health respondents, with new Add Health Wave VI data, we estimated intergenerational correlations between each cohort's socioeconomic status (e.g., income, economic insecurity, and educational attainment); family context (e.g., union formation, time/money transfers, and psychological traits); health (e.g., mental, physical, and behavioral); and life experiences (e.g., social integration). We harmonized measures across the two generations and estimated either Pearson (r) or polychoric (ρ) correlations depending on the level of measurement. Intergenerational correlations were further contrasted by sex, the biological relationship of the parent-child dyad, and educational attainment.
The largest correlations were found within socioeconomic and health domains, with significant correlations found for food insecurity (ρ = 0.52), educational attainment (r = 0.42), diabetes (ρ = 0.41), and obesity (ρ = 0.37). We found more significant and larger correlations for biological parent-child dyads and parent-daughter dyads. Few educational grades in intergenerational correlations were significant (e.g., health behavior and social integration).
Intergenerational correlations are stronger when there is a known shared genetic component in outcomes such as health and health behavior, but shared environments also play an important role for socioeconomic outcomes. Intergenerational similarities in advantage for the higher educated and disadvantage for the less educated are evident. Small sample sizes precluded analysis by race/ethnicity; however, AHPS Phase 2 data (2026-2027) will fill that research gap.

PMID:
42837513
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 07 Oct 2026.

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