O relacionamento entre mãe e filha adulta: um estudo descritivo

The mother-adult daughter relationship is still a seldom  investigated topic, especially in Brazil. This work aimed at investigating some dimensions of this kind of relationship in an exploratory and qualitative way. Eighteen women participated in the investigation, all living in the Metropolitan Area of Vitoria, including four pairs of mothers and their married daughters and five pairs of mothers and their single daughters. Individual, semi-structured interviews have been employed. The content has been organized and data have been classified in the following categories: the relationship history (separation/approximation, dependence/independence, expectations of relationship changes); family influence (from spouse/father, children/siblings and from other family members); the relationship daily routines (shared activities and communication); social influence, support and cooperation between mother and daughter; relationship perception (right/wrong, admiration/criticism); some classic relationship dimensions: similarities and differences, reciprocity and complementarity, interpersonal conflict, self-revelation and privacy. Marriage has been pointed as a separation point, giving rise to a new social role to the daughter, which affects her relationship with the mother, sometimes getting apart, sometimes getting closer. In general, the mother-adult daughter relationship is marked by its dialectical nature, integrating separation and approximation, a quest for differentiation and the discovery of similarities, getting together and breaking apart.Keywords: personal relationships; family; mother-adult daughter relationship