The association of Sense of Indebtedness with Support given to parents
Abstract
Immigrant parents deal with more challenges and hardships bringing up their children in a host country compared to native parents. They work longer hours for less money and usually leave their social support network in the home country. Growing up, their children experience their parents sacrificing for them, which may foster feelings of indebtedness to the parents (i.e. Sense of Indebtedness, SIP). SIP may predict giving support (i.e. spending time together, helping with household chores) to the parents, when they grow old. In this study, SIP was adapted and applied to a culturally diverse sample of Swiss second-generation immigrants. A strong positive association of SIP with support given to parents was found. SIP explains specific aspects of intergenerational family dynamics in immigrant families.
