The Harvard longitudinal study on adult development... happiness... and what makes a good life yielded several papers, including this 11-page paper by Landes et al, dated 2014, on generativity and [b][i]adjustment to aging[/i][/b].

This 11-page paper is linked in point #2 of the article here:
Originally Posted by 2017 article summarizing 4 key points from Harvard study
... those who engaged in what psychologists call “generativity,” or an interest in establishing and guiding the next generation, were happier and better adjusted than those who didn’t.
The correlation between generativity and adjustment was also found in study participants who experienced an adversarial childhood, such as harsh parenting or low SES:
Originally Posted by Landes 11-page paper, 2014
Resilience has been defined as successful adaption, or the ability to maintain healthy psychological and physical life functioning, despite the presence of significant adversity, loss, or trauma... So defined, resilience is not recovery, as the effects of adversity are not necessarily eliminated ... However, resilient individuals are able to “bounce back” after highly stressful experiences and continue to engage in positive growth, which suggests that the effects of childhood adversity might be moderated by the development of resilience in adulthood
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we use one measure of midlife psychosocial growth, generativity, as an indicator of resilience
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The achievement of midlife generativity mediated the effects of harsh parenting and lower childhood social class on later life adjustment to aging. In addition, generativity moderated the adverse effect of lower social class on adjustment to aging.

TED Talk by Robert Waldinger Filmed November 2015 at TEDxBeaconStreet:
Originally Posted by What makes a good life?
What keeps us happy and healthy as we go through life? If you think it's fame and money, you're not alone – but, according to psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, you're mistaken. As the director of a 75-year-old study on adult development, Waldinger has unprecedented access to data on true happiness and satisfaction. In this talk, he shares three important lessons learned from the study as well as some practical, old-as-the-hills wisdom on how to build a fulfilling, long life.