This research is the outgrowth of the investigator's previous studies of role-timing of fatherhood and its consequences. Timing of fatherhood (age at birth of first child) had not previously been studied. The major goals are to extend this analysis through later adulthood (when the timing variable is expected to continue to have significant effects), to continue building a model of role development through the life span, and to provide qualitative data on father-child relations from middle age to old age. A sample of fathers between the ages of 45 and 75 is being randomly drawn, purposive in regard to timing. Semi-structured interviews are providing detailed information on the behavior, affect, and beliefs of the respondent as father and as adult son. A technique for generating role norms is being developed to quantify beliefs. Age and family state are mornally confounded; only for the offtime are the separate effects apparent. By sampling on the basis of timing, these variables can be examined independently in an age-by family stage analysis. The sampling design provides this analogue of a cross-sequential analysis. After establishing role relations and patterns of parenting in later adulthood, and the influence of age-related factors such as health and assistance-needs, these will be related to age and family stage. Changes in the father's role, as functions of age and parental experience, will be incorporated in a life span model of father's role development.