Reciprocity in material and time support within parent–child relationships during late-life widowhood

2015 ◽  
Vol 36 (8) ◽  
pp. 1668-1689 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. ISHERWOOD ◽  
M. A. LUSZCZ ◽  
D. S. KING
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Primary Source ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Informal Support ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Spousal Loss ◽  
Parent Child Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

ABSTRACTThe exchange of informal support within the social network plays a vital role in enabling older adults to remain living in the community as they age. Following spousal loss in later life, the exchange of instrumental support is of particular importance in order to meet the practical and financial needs of the bereaved spouse. Adult children are typically the primary source of social contact and informal support for older widowed adults following bereavement. However, very little is known of the longitudinal changes that occur in the exchange of instrumental support with children during the transition to late-life widowhood. Trajectories and predictors of change in material and time support exchange in parent–child relationships were modelled over a 15-year period for 1,266 older adults (mean age 76.7 years). Widowed older adults received more material and time support from their children than their married peers. Proximity to children, age at spousal loss, self-rated health, cognitive functioning and income were predictive of levels of exchanged instrumental support in late-life widowhood. Short-term reciprocity appears to continue in parent–child relationships during late-life widowhood. The implications of the findings for policy and practice are discussed, including the role of children in the support networks of older widowed adults and the potential difficulties faced by those who do not have access to informal avenues of support.

scholarly journals The Role of Family During Older Adults’ Living Transitions: Implications for Helping Professionals and Family Counselors

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 75-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Scott Branson ◽  
Ashley Branson ◽  
Kathryn Pozniak ◽  
Juanita Tookes ◽  
Maya Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Life Span ◽  
Assisted Living ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Assisted Living Facilities ◽  
Family Counselors ◽  
Counseling Interventions ◽  
Parent Child Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

Adults aged 65 and over comprise approximately 15% of the U.S. population, yet research regarding their experiences during later life transitions remains relatively scant. Our aim in conducting this qualitative study was to better understand relational, developmental, and family life cycle factors that older adults identify as impacting their perceptions of aging and wellness in the context of transitioning into assisted living facilities. In-depth interviews with six participants revealed that attachment across the life span and historic parent–child relationships substantially impacted participants’ perceptions and experiences during later life transitions. These findings support the importance of systemic counseling interventions targeted toward strengthening parent–child relationships across the life span. We conclude with implications for systemic counselors.

scholarly journals PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPS AND SLEEP QUALITY AMONG CHINESE AGING PARENTS

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S672-S672
Author(s):  
Haowei Wang ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Jeffrey Burr ◽  
Bei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Sleep Difficulty ◽  
Financial Transfers ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Aging Parents ◽  
Parent Child Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

Abstract Relationships with adult children play an important role in older adults’ well-being. However, little is known about the association between parent-child relations and aging parents’ sleep quality, which is an emerging health issue that is closely related to individuals’ physical and mental well-being in later life. With the largest aging population, China has experienced rapid changes of family structure and traditional norms regarding parent-child ties. This study focused on different dimensions of parent-child relationships (i.e., upward/downward financial and instrumental support, emotional closeness) in Chinese aging families. This study examined the association between parent-child relationships and older parents’ sleep quality, comparing one-child and multiple-children Chinese families. Utilizing the 2014 wave of the Chinese Longitudinal Aging and Social Survey, we analyze data from 8,450 respondents (aged 60+) who had at least one living child. Descriptive analysis showed that parents with multiple children engaged in more intense financial exchanges, less frequent instrumental support, and lower levels of emotional closeness with their adult children compared to their counterparts with only one child. Logistic regression models revealed that older parents who received more instrumental support were more likely to report sleep difficulty in both one-child and multiple-children families. For parents with multiple children, the overall level of financial transfers from children was negatively associated with having sleep difficulties, while the variability of financial transfers across multiple children was positively associated with having sleep difficulty. Findings highlight the importance of considering family dynamics in studying sleep quality among Chinese older adults.

Socio-economic and lifestyle determinants of giving practical support to adult children in the era of changing late life

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (9) ◽  
pp. 1933-1950 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANU SIREN ◽  
FREYA CASIER
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Adult Children ◽  
Intergenerational Relationships ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Informal Support ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Work Related ◽  
Practical Support ◽  
Using Data

ABSTRACTWhile research evidence indicates that older adults provide substantial amounts of financial, emotional and practical support to their adult children, little is known about the lifestyle-related drivers of providing such support or how these may be associated with changing late life in late modernity. Emerging popular discourses increasingly portray older adults as a group adopting new lifestyles, pursuing their own interests and rejecting normative family obligations. Using data from the Danish Longitudinal Study of Ageing, we examine first, cohort, age and period trends in the provision of informal support in 1997–2012 in Denmark; and second, the socio-economic and lifestyle factors associated with the likelihood of providing help to adult children. We find notably that, overall, older adults’ provision of informal support to their adult children has increased over time and that active lifestyles do not decrease the provision of support to adult children. However, in later mid-life (52–62 years), having full-time employment and high work-related stress decreases the likelihood of providing help. The results indicate that while older adults play an important role in providing support, external stressors such as work–life imbalance in later life may interfere with their engagement in intergenerational relationships.

scholarly journals Older adults, informal support, and the process of driving cessation

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Amy Murray ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Third Sector ◽  
Holistic Approach ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Qualitative Inquiry ◽  
Support Network ◽  
Informal Support ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Driving Cessation ◽  
Homogeneous Sample

The following thesis is based upon an exploration into the process of driving cessation in later life, with a specific focus upon informal support. Although informal support has been highlighted as a highly important factor across the process of driving cessation (Johnson, 2008; Hanson & Hilldebrand, 2011; Ichikawa et al, 2016; Schryer et al, 2017), there is limited research which has explored this in depth. There is even less literature available which has incorporated the views of informal support network members, to understand their lived experiences of the driving cessation process. Studies which have addressed this gap, have tended to focus upon the views of adult children only (Rosenbloom, 2010; O’Connell et al, 2013). Using a phenomenological line of qualitative inquiry, individual semi-structured interviews with current and retired older drivers (n=15), and their family, friends, and wider community members (n=15) were completed. This was to provide a holistic approach to understand the driving cessation process, for the receivers and providers of informal support. Following a detailed thematic analysis, findings revealed both the process of driving cessation and informal support, to be profoundly complex, multi-faceted phenomena’s, holding multiple meanings for participants. This included a range of practical and psychosocial outcomes, which were both positive and negative. Often, findings were inter-linked, demonstrating the complexity of experiences amongst this far from homogeneous sample. The implications of the study have important messages for a number of individuals and groups, including older adults, their informal networks, policy and practice, and third sector organisations.

scholarly journals What's it worth? Value and valuation of late-life creativity

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Vera Gallistl
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Narrow View ◽  
Long Time ◽  
Sociology Of Valuation

Abstract New interest in late-life creativity has arisen in gerontology. To date, such research has mainly focused on the positive impact creativity has on older adults, but has scarcely contextualised older adults’ creative engagement. Drawing on the sociology of valuation, this article aims to contextualise late-life creativity by critically exploring how creativity gains, stabilises and loses its value and how these processes are related to perceptions, images and discourses addressing old age. Data from 13 interviews with older (60+) adults involved in creative practices in Austria are used to explore these topics. Interviews examined perceptions of creative production, everyday routines and personal attitudes towards ageing. Interviews transcripts were analysed using the documentary method. The analysis revealed three registers of valuation in late-life creativity: economic value, in which valuable creativity was given away at a high revenue; field value, where valuable creativity was appreciated by institutions or other artists in the field; and lifecourse value, in which doing a creative activity for a long time meant being able to produce a creative product that was high in value. This article emphasises late-life creativity as a process of value production that is structured by the making and evaluating of creative products and adds to the current critique that the narrow view of late-life creativity in its associations with wellbeing present a reductionist picture of the capacities that the arts and creativity have for older adults. The results demonstrate the potential for valuation studies in gerontology as they highlight the circumstances and practices by which the activities of older adults are (de)valued. For policy and practice, this article suggests imagining arts-based interventions for older adults beyond the realm of health and wellbeing, and encourages thinking about how valuable artistic experiences can be supported in later life.

scholarly journals DON’T WORRY, BE HAPPY NOW, PET OWNERS: THE RELATION BETWEEN PET OWNERSHIP AND ANXIETY AND DEPRESSION IN LATE LIFE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S165-S165
Author(s):  
Courtney J Bolstad ◽  
Carolyn E Adams-Price ◽  
Michael R Nadorff
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Anxiety Symptoms ◽  
Anxiety And Depression ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Pet Ownership ◽  
Pet Owners ◽  
Reported Health

Abstract Pets can provide older adults a means of social support, which can combat problems faced in later life including loneliness, anxiety, and depression. However, current research findings in this area are mixed. The current study explored the differences in anxiety and depression between pet owners and non-pet owners and how pet ownership was associated with these symptoms after accounting for other established correlates. We hypothesized pet owners would endorse fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression than non-pet owners and owning a pet would be associated with these symptoms even after accounting for other common correlates. Participants included 608 older adults aged 70 to 95 that were included in the University of Alabama at Birmingham Study of Aging. As hypothesized, results indicated that pet owners endorsed significantly fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression than non-pet owners. Hierarchical regressions indicated that owning a pet explained a significant amount of variance in anxiety symptoms even after controlling for depression, self-reported health, and demographics. However, owning a pet did not have a significant association with depressive symptoms after accounting for anxiety, self-reported health, and demographics. These results suggest that lower rates of anxiety and depression are related to owning a pet and that pet ownership is associated with fewer anxiety symptoms, but not depressive symptoms, independent of several established correlates of anxiety. Future research is needed to determine the specific mechanisms of pet ownership that comprise this relationship as well as whether pet ownership may longitudinally reduce or buffer against anxiety in late life.

Parent–Child Relationships and Aging Parents’ Sleep Quality: A Comparison of One-Child and Multiple-Children Families in China

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1602-1613
Author(s):  
Haowei Wang ◽  
Kyungmin Kim ◽  
Jeffrey A. Burr ◽  
Bei Wu
Keyword(s):  
Sleep Quality ◽  
Sleep Problems ◽  
Instrumental Support ◽  
Sleep Difficulty ◽  
Financial Transfers ◽  
Emotional Closeness ◽  
Older Parents ◽  
Logistic Regression Models ◽  
Parent Child Relationships ◽  
Parent Child

Objectives: This study examined the associations between parent–child relationships and sleep difficulty among older parents in the context of Chinese multiple-children and one-child families. Methods: Using the 2014 China Longitudinal Aging Social Survey, this study analyzed older parents’ ( N = 8,450) reports of sleep quality and relationships with each of children. Results: Results from multivariate logistic regression models showed that living alone, greater variations in children’s financial transfers and emotional closeness, and more instrumental support from children were associated with higher risks of sleep difficulty for Chinese older parents with multiple children. The maximum levels of financial transfers and emotional closeness from all children were related to lower risks of sleep difficulty for parents from multiple-children families, while greater instrumental support from children was associated with higher risks of sleep difficulty for parents from one-child families. Discussion: Findings have implications for support programs for Chinese aging population with sleep problems.

scholarly journals Personality disorders in later life: epidemiology, presentation and management

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (4) ◽  
pp. 208-218
Author(s):  
Ayesha Bangash
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Personality Disorder ◽  
Older People ◽  
Medical Care ◽  
Personality Disorders ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Enormous Amount ◽  
Expected Increase ◽  
Growing Population

SUMMARYDespite the enormous amount of literature on medical care of older people, personality disorders in late life have been given little attention. Clinicians tend not to assign this diagnosis to older adults in view of limited research into, and therefore limited awareness of, this topic. This article aims to promote better understanding of this subject in view of the growing population of older people and hence an expected increase in the number of personality disorder cases.

Origins of depression in later life

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (9) ◽  
pp. 1241-1252 ◽  
Author(s):  
DAN G. BLAZER ◽  
CELIA F. HYBELS
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Stressful Life Events ◽  
Cognitive Distortions ◽  
Late Life ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Late Life Depression ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
Clinically Significant ◽  
The Many

Background. Despite the burden of depression in late life, its origins present a paradox to investigators and clinicians alike.Method. We review biological (genetics and heredity factors, neurotransmitter dysfunction, endocrine changes, vascular disorders, and medical co-morbidities), psychological (personality attributes, neuroticism, cognitive distortions, and the lack of emotional control and self-efficacy) and social (stressful life events, bereavement, chronic stress or strain, socio-economic disadvantage and impaired social support) origins of late-life depression based upon an extensive though not exhaustive review of the extant literature. In addition, modifying psychological and social factors are discussed.Results. Older adults appear to be at greater risk for major depression biologically, such as depression resulting from vascular changes, yet the frequency of depression is lower compared to younger adults. Older adults may be protected psychologically due to factors such as socio-emotional selectivity and wisdom, compared to younger adults, and perhaps relatively protected from social risks.Conclusions. A biopsychosocial approach to evaluating the origins of late-life depression is heuristically valuable, a continual reminder of the many factors that contribute to the onset and persistence of clinically significant symptoms in late life.

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