The majority of Blacks expressed personal problems that were perceived as serious, and these reports, as well as their symptomatic responses, indicated a great deal of personal distress and difficulty that increased over time. With respect to the ways in which individuals used external resources, the majority used both informal and formal help, a finding that is consistent over time. Three-Generation Survey Analyses on this sample permit an assessment of family socialization patterns, economic and social transmission across generations, and generational similarity and change. Opportunities also exist for causally assessing parental and family social and economic contributions to the growth and development of children and grandchildren. Analysts using the triads family dataset should give careful consideration to their statistical approach.
Special attention needs to be placed on the most appropriate unit of analysis.
Analyses on the three-generation families at the individual level reveal important variations across generations in several key demographic factors. Respondents in the grandparent generation have both lower incomes and formal education levels than persons in the parent and child generations. They are also the most likely of the three groups to reside in the South. Individuals among the older generation interact more frequently with family members and report higher levels of family satisfaction than those in each successive younger generation. Grandchildren report receiving the most support.