- boomerang child
- young adult child who returns to live with their parents after a period of living independently
- caregiver burden
- potential negative psychological, social, and financial impacts of providing unpaid care for family members
- compensatory model
- perspective that predicts that individuals will seek out and use positive interactions within one relationship or role to counterbalance the negative effects or missing benefits from another relationship or role
- defense mechanism
- psychological strategy to manage anxiety and stress triggered by developmental challenges
- egalitarian marriage
- marriage in which responsibilities are shared equally between partners, and roles are not prescribed according to traditional gender role stereotypes
- empty nest
- household of parents whose adult children have left the parental home to live independently
- eudaimonic happiness
- happiness derived from a perceived sense of purpose or meaning in life
- family of choice
- individuals who are not necessarily related by marriage or biology but have formed a committed kin-like network to play significant roles in each other’s lives
- family systems theory
- perspective that family dynamics are best understood as part of a complex and developing family unit, rather than as singular individuals or dyadic relationships
- generativity
- according to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, the middle adulthood challenge to find satisfaction through mentoring or care of others
- gray divorce
- divorces among couples after age fifty years
- launching
- process during which children transition from dependence on their parents into independent young adults
- role enhancement
- when people experience role expansion as rewarding
- role expansion
- increase in the scope of behaviors, positions, and responsibilities expected of a person
- role strain
- when the increased responsibilities associated with occupying multiple roles result in a decline in subjective well-being
- spillover model
- perspective that predicts the emotions generated by interactions within one relationship or environment can spread into other interactions or environments, creating a positive correlation among a person’s mood and behaviors across separate relationships or roles
- stagnation
- according to Erikson’s theory of psychosocial development, the unwillingness or refusal of generativity in middle adulthood