Similarity between parents' and adolescents' levels of individuation.

Intergenerational theories of family functioning and therapy have sparked interest in empirical investigations that test intergenerational relationships. Of particular interest is whether one generation's level of functioning is similar to that of the next generation. This paper presents a test of difference scores that enables researchers to compare related and unrelated dyads, thus creating a comparison group when using only two generations. This procedure is contrasted with correlational findings in testing the hypothesis that adolescents will have a level of individuation similar to that of their parents.