Positive Consequences of Institutionalization: Solidarity Between Elderly Parents and Their Middle-Aged Children

ABSTRACTThis study assesses the relationship between the number of work hours and the provision of instrumental support to parents among 779 middle-aged women and men in dual-worker couples in The Netherlands. Using data from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study collected during 2002–04, we estimate a simultaneous two-stage probit least-squares model, which takes into account that the competing time and financial demands of a person's engagement in paid work and parental support are endogenous. We explicitly control for the effects of partners' earnings, housework and parent-support contributions, and of co-resident children's time demands and help with domestic tasks. Contrary to expectations, the results do not reveal a conflict between paid work and giving support to parents. Several possible explanations are discussed. The results emphasise the importance of the household context, in that the work hours of both women and men depend on other household members' activities and finances, as does men's provision of parent-support. The striking lack of relationships between women's provision of parental support and any individual and contextual characteristic demonstrates the persistence of gendered roles in family members giving support.

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A Decrease in Psycho-Emotional Health in Middleaged Russian Women Associated With Their Lifestyle: Factors and Indicators

10.20944/preprints202012.0219.v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Maria V. Saporovskaia ◽

Tatiana L. Kryukova ◽

Maria E. Voronina ◽

Elena V. Tikhomirova ◽

Anna G. Samokhvalova ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Attachment Style ◽

Emotional Health ◽

High Stress ◽

Well Being ◽

Life Situation ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Elderly Parents ◽

Interpersonal Guilt ◽

Number Of Factors ◽

High Stress Level

The present study is aimed to determine the predicting role of objective (lifestyle) and subjective factors of middle-aged women’s psycho-emotional health such as their attitude towards parents, attachment and separation types. Women who are overloaded with professional and family roles have high stress level, their indicators of psychological well-being and emotional level decrease when they have to give everyday care to their elderly parents. (2) Methods: Sample consists of 146 women aged 38 to 56 ( =41.1, ó=3.5), married (70.5%) and divorced (29.5%), having children of 14-28 years old; giving everyday care to elderly parents for more than 1.5 yrs. Some live separately (62.3 %), or have to cohabitate with parents (37.7%). All women evaluate their life situation as difficult and manifest signs of high psycho-emotional stress. We used methods adapted for the Russian-speaking sample: getting socio-demographic information, an interview; Attachment style and Interpersonal Guilt Questionnaires (study 1); Psychological Separation Inventory, Purpose-in-Life Test, projective methods of incomplete sentences and metaphors` analysis (study 2), mathematical statistics. (3) Results: A number of factors and indicators of women`s psycho-emotional health decrease in the situation of role overload have been identified. Among the factors there are four main types of women’s attitudes towards parents: strong (anxious), distancing, ambivalent, normative closeness, predicting low indicators of psycho-emotional health: dependence on the others` opinions and feedbacks in making decisions, a lack of meaningfulness of life; reduced sense of control over life are showing the decrease. Anxiety about future and neurotic symptoms (increased demands on oneself, irritability, reduced emotional background) distinguish these respondents. (4) Conclusions: The study confirms that middle-aged Russian women`s psycho-emotional health depends on contextual factors (difficult role-overloaded lifestyle) and factors integrating women`s attitudes towards parents, attachment and separation types. Among the most important risk factors there are a difficult life situation, conflict separation type and gilt.

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Familial Support of the Elderly in a Rural Mennonite Community

Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement ◽

10.1017/s071498080001535x ◽

1987 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

pp. 7-17 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

John B. Bond ◽

Carol D.H. Harvey ◽

Elizabeth A. Hildebrand

Keyword(s):

The Elderly ◽

Religious Practice ◽

Historical Background ◽

Middle Aged ◽

Older Parents ◽

Elderly Parents ◽

Aged People ◽

Community Information ◽

Institutional Church ◽

Church Responses

AbstractWith an increasing number of persons entering old age and having longer life expectancies, there has been a consequent alteration of family dynamics, such that middle aged individuals frequently provide support to their older parents. At the same time, the middle aged person is often in the midst of raising his or her own children, attending to personal aspirations, and enacting the role of spouse.This study investigated support from middle aged offspring to elderly parents in a rural Mennonite community. Information on the expectation for and consequences of support to parents was gathered from pastors and middle aged family members in two Mennonite conferences, as well as from a Lutheran sample with a similar historical background.Pastoral interviews showed no differences in doctrinal beliefs regarding familial care of parents, although the institutional church responses varied. Middle aged offspring in the Lutheran congregation reported less involvement in religious practice than did members of either Mennonite congregation. Burden of caring for elderly parents felt by middle aged people showed no statistically significant differences between congregations; however, greater reported religiosity was associated with lesser burden.

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