Parents often provide advice to their adult children during their everyday interactions. This study investigated young adult children’s daily experiences with parental advice in U.S. families. Specifically, the study examined how receiving advice and evaluations of parental advice were associated with children’s life problems, parent-child relationship quality, and daily mood.
Young adult children (aged 18–30; participant N = 152) reported whether they received any advice and perceived any unwanted advice from each parent (parent N = 235) for seven days using a daily diary design (participant-day N = 948). Adult children also reported their positive and negative mood on each interview day.
Results from multilevel models revealed that adult children who reported a more positive relationship with their parents were more likely to receive advice from the parent, whereas adult children who had a more strained relationship with their parents were more likely to perceive advice from the parent as unwanted. Receiving advice from mother was associated with increased positive mood, whereas unwanted advice from any parent was associated with increased negative mood. Further, the link between unwanted advice and negative mood varied by children’s life problems and parent-child relationship quality.
Indeed, parental advice is not “the more the better,” especially when the advice is unsolicited. This study highlights the importance of perceptions of family support for emerging adults’ well-being.