The Intergenerational Transmission of Life Satisfaction between Parents and Children and the Mediating Role of Supportive Parenting

Abstract

Processes of intergenerational transmission can have long-lasting negative consequences for children, thereby perpetuating or exacerbating existing social and health inequalities within society. The present study investigates the intergenerational transmission of life satisfaction between parents and their adolescent children. Based on cross-sectional data from the German Socio-Economic Panel Study (SOEP), multilevel linear regression models were estimated for 4,154 adolescents at the age of 17 years, and their parents. The statistical analysis provided evidence for the intergenerational transmission of life satisfaction between parents and their children, as parents’ levels of life satisfaction were positively and significantly related to levels of life satisfaction in adolescents. Furthermore, mothers’ and fathers’ supportive parenting partially mediated this relationship, with higher levels of supportive parenting contributing to increased levels of adolescent life satisfaction. However, the results of the analysis revealed no significant differences between same-sex and opposite-sex parent–child dyads in the intergenerational transmission of life satisfaction.