Adults who take on the role of caring for a parent may find that the job places major strain on their parent-child relationship. Deirdre Condon, Irishhealth.com reports:

US researchers carried out the first international comparative study of its kind, analysing levels of affection and conflict between over 2,600 parents and their adult children in six developed countries, including England, Germany, Norway and the US.

They found that long-term interdependence and heavy care taking responsibility introduces a major challenge to the parent-child relationship.

The study identified key conditions that play an important role, including affection, conflict, economic status, gender, number of siblings and cultural values.

"Caretaking situations due to a lack of welfare pose particular challenges to parent-child relationships. Citizens of nations with a more evolved welfare system tend to experience less conflict when faced with illness and long-term medical care situations," explained lead researcher, Dr Merril Silverstein of the University of Southern California.

However the study also found that a healthy sense of interdependence can actually encourage affection and that apathy ‘can be much more detrimental than conflict to close, personal familial relationships'.

"In general, older parents are more likely to report on the positive and affectionate qualities of the relationship than the child," Dr Silverstein added.

Details of these findings are published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.