Intergenerational Solidarity With Older Parents and Self-Esteem of Middle-Aged Children During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The United States and South Korea Comparison

Abstract

Intergenerational social support has been considered an important factor in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. However, prior research has overlooked the connection between intergenerational solidarity—social cohesion between generations—and self-esteem across Western and Asian families during the pandemic. We aimed to discover common unobserved latent classes of intergenerational solidarity with older parents among middle-aged adults during the pandemic in the United States and South Korea. In addition, we sought to determine if the identified solidarity latent classes were linked to the self-esteem of middle-aged adults, and whether the above association varies according to parents' gender or cultural contexts. We used data from the 2022 surveys of the Longitudinal Study of Generations and Korean Generation Study, and conducted multigroup latent class analysis for 247 child–mother and 205 child-father groups in the United States and 229 child–mother and 155 child-father groups in South Korea. In addition, multivariate regression analysis based on the three-step approach was conducted. We identified the same three intergenerational solidarity latent classes in the four groups: tight-knit, intimate-but-distant, and detached. Furthermore, we found that middle-aged adults with a tight-knit relationship with older parents reported higher self-esteem than those who had intimate-but-distant and detached types of relationships with older parents, irrespective of parents' gender and national context. Our results suggest that fostering stronger intergenerational relationships would be beneficial for middle-aged adults in both cultures, regardless of the gender of their parents. We provide insight to clarify the understanding of the role of intergenerational solidarity in midlife in American and Korean cultural contexts.