Mothers give more than they receive when family struck by major illness

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-08/isu-mgm081815.php

Public Release: 18-Aug-2015
Mothers give more than they receive when family struck by major illness
Iowa State University

Mothers are often the caregiver when a child is sick, and that motherly instinct doesn't go away when the child is an adult. In fact, mothers provide more support to adult children with a serious health condition than to their other children, according to new research that will be presented at the American Sociological Association 2015 Annual Meeting.

It's a situation that can put older mothers in a vulnerable position, said Megan Gilligan, lead author and assistant professor of human development and family studies at Iowa State University. Gilligan and researchers from Purdue and Cornell universities found mothers of seriously ill adult children gave more support than they received.

"These mothers are not receiving a lot of practical assistance, such as help around the house with chores or help when they're sick or not feeling well," Gilligan said. "These are mothers who are in their late 70s and early 80s, which is normatively a time when they stop giving their children as much support and they start receiving support from their children."

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"What is intriguing about the findings from this particular paper is that they show that even when mothers provide increased support to offspring with serious health problems, it does not reduce mothers' support to her other children," said Jill Suitor, professor of sociology at Purdue. "In fact, it appears that mothers just expand their provision of support overall."

The research shows children gave expressive, but less instrumental support to their mothers. The lack of instrumental support is significant because 56.8 percent of the mothers in the study reported needing help in the last two years because of an injury or illness. Gilligan says it's important to recognize the impact an illness can have on a family.

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Nearly half of the families in the study had at least one child with a serious health condition. The median age for mothers was 78 years old, and the median age for children was 49.

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