Intergenerational Solidarity and Individual Adjustment During Emerging Adulthood

In this study, we aimed to extend research on the theory of intergenerational solidarity by examining the associations between solidarity dimensions and individual adjustment among an ethnically diverse sample of college-attending emerging adults (age range: 18-25 years; N = 600). We proposed a multiple mediator model, hypothesizing that normative solidarity (familism) would be associated with individual adjustment, particularly academic satisfaction, psychological distress, and loneliness, directly and indirectly through associational solidarity, affectual solidarity, and functional solidarity. Analysis results showed that familism was directly and positively related to depressive symptoms. Indirect effects based on bootstrapping also were found in that affectual solidarity mediated the association between familism and loneliness, and functional solidarity mediated the relationships between familism and each of the three adjustment criterion variables examined in this study. Findings lend support to the importance of family influence, through intergenerational solidarity, on the well-being of emerging adults attending college.