To what extent, the researchers asked middle-aged adults, do your parents ignore suggestions or advice that would make their lives easier or safer?

Ignore instructions from their doctors?

Insist on doing things their own way, even if that makes their own or others’ lives more difficult, inconvenient or unsafe?

It proved a widespread complaint.

Such clashes, and related reports of stubbornness, increase when the parent and child live together, she found. Perceived stubbornness also rises when a parent’s disability increases.

“When a child steps in, most commonly there’s a safety issue,” Dr. Heid said. “The parent may not share those feelings about their capabilities.”

Read more in the New York Times.

Image credit: ChameleonsEye / Shutterstock.com