Role of shared values in parent/child estrangement

This 2015 paper by Gilligan, Suitor and Pillemer looks at the factors that relate to mother-adult child estrangement.

It suggests that around 10% of mothers are estranged (no longer in contact with) their grown-up children. 

Further, it outlines the strong role that shared values between mother and child play in whether that mother continues to enjoy a relationship with the adult child or if they are to become estranged. 

Research suggests that it is this sense of shared values (or lack thereof) that most predicts adult child estrangement. Notably, this is amplified where the parents are separated.