Gerontology

Sociology ◽  
2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Lanford ◽  
Jill Quadagno ◽  
Sunshine Rote
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Population Aging ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Ethnic Origin ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Status Change ◽  
Social Trends ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course

Social gerontology is a subfield of gerontology. It is concerned mainly with the social, rather than the biological, aspects of aging. However, social gerontologists do study how biological processes influence the social conditions of aging. Societal aging is one of the most important social trends of this century. It affects the major political, social, and economic institutions as well as the nature of interpersonal and familial relationships. Key issues concern how population aging influences retirement patterns, income security, health care, and politics, and how these trends, in turn, affect the policy options available. Social gerontologists recognize, however, that old age is just one life stage and that the quality of later life is determined by events, opportunities, and decisions made earlier in life. Thus, many studies in this field adopt a framework that emphasizes the life course as a way to make sense of long-term trends and to explain differences among groups on the basis of race, gender, class, and ethnic origin. The life course perspective also provides a roadmap for thinking about how health, social relationships, and socioeconomic status change over time and across life stages.

Inclusive growth and social investments over the life course

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jon Kvist
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Life Stage ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Inclusive Growth ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
National Economic ◽  
The Life Course

Globally, policymakers are promoted social investments as a reform strategy to increase individuals’ capacities and national economic growth. This chapter establishes a framework consisting of generational, life-course perspectives on social investments and inclusive growth. The generational perspective brings out that social investments involve horizontal redistribution, underpin the productive and reproductive social contract between generations, and the increased diversity within generations. The life-course perspective demonstrates how social issues and social investments in one life stage depend on the situation in prior life stages and affect the situation in later life stages and, possibly, in multiple dimensions.

The Social Context and Resources of the Unmarried in Old Age

1986 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 81-96 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pat M. Keith
Keyword(s):  
Social Context ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Social Relationships ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Social Resources ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Role Transitions ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course

A model of singleness in later life was developed to show how the social context may influence the personal and social resources of older, unmarried persons. The unmarried (especially the divorced) will be an increasing proportion of the aged population in the future, and they will require more services than will the married. Role transitions of the unmarried over the life course, finances, health, and social relationships of older singles are discussed with implications for practice and future research.

Situating the life story narratives of aging immigrants within a structural context: the intersectional life course perspective as research praxis

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-484 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shari Brotman ◽  
Ilyan Ferrer ◽  
Sharon Koehn
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Life Story ◽  
Methodological Approach ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Older Immigrants ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
Research Praxis ◽  
The Life Course

Research on racialized older immigrants does not fully acknowledge the interplay between the life course experiences of diverse populations and the structural conditions that shape these experiences. Our research team has developed the intersectional life course perspective to enhance researchers’ capacity to take account of the cumulative effects of structural discrimination as people experience it throughout the life course, the meanings that people attribute to those experiences, and the implications these have on later life. Here we propose an innovative methodological approach that combines life story narrative and photovoice methods in order to operationalize the intersectional life course. We piloted this approach in a study of the everyday stories of aging among diverse immigrant older adults in two distinct Canadian provinces with the goals of enhancing capacity to account for both context and story and engaging with participants and stakeholders from multiple sectors in order to influence change.

scholarly journals PREDICTORS OF SELF-CONTINUITY IN LATER LIFE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S308-S308
Author(s):  
Charikleia Lampraki ◽  
Dario Spini ◽  
Daniela Jopp
Keyword(s):  
Individual Differences ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Life Events ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Future Expectations ◽  
Critical Life Events ◽  
Multilevel Hierarchical Models ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract Self-continuity is an identity mechanism that inter-connects past and present experiences with future expectations, creating a coherent whole. However, research is limited regarding inter-individual differences and life course determinants of change in self-continuity. Using a life-course perspective on vulnerability, we investigate how the accumulation of resources (e.g., social, hopeful attitude) and the occurrence of critical life events (e.g., childhood adversity, divorce) across the life course may affect changes in self-continuity. Data derived from the LIVES Intimate Partner Loss Study conducted in Switzerland from 2012 to 2016 (3 waves). The sample consisted of individuals having experienced divorce (N = 403, Mage = 55.43) or bereavement (N = 295, Mage = 69.91) in the second half of life, using a continuously married group as a reference (N = 535, Mage = 65.60). Multilevel hierarchical models were used. Results indicated that as individuals grew older they experienced more self-continuity. More childhood adversity was negatively associated with inter-individual differences in self-continuity for all groups. Divorcees with more childhood adverse events felt significantly less self-continuity as they grew older than divorcees with less childhood adversity. In the bereaved group, more childhood adversity and less hope was linked to lower levels of self-continuity. More hopeful married individuals felt more self-continuity as they grew older than less hopeful ones. In sum, findings demonstrate that self-continuity changes as a function of age, but also differs with regard to the critical life events experienced across the life course and the availability of resources.

The Life-Course and Human Development: An Ecological Perspective

1979 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Glen H. Elder ◽  
Richard C. Rockwell
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Human Development ◽  
Problem Formulation ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Psychological States ◽  
Socioeconomic Environment ◽  
Family Economy ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Status Differences

A life-course perspective is applied to the study of human development in ecological context. Three meanings of age (developmental, social, and historical) represent key elements of this perspective and depict lives in terms of aging, career, and historical setting. Age locates people in history (by birth year) and in the social structure. The neglect of such temporal distinctions in problem formulation has consequences in studies of status differences and psychological states, of careers and work satisfaction, of children's socioeconomic environment and the family economy, and of life change and stress. Alternative questions based on the life-course facilitate explanatory assessments of the relation between environmental and personal change.

scholarly journals Marital Strain and Support and Subjective Well-Being in Later Life: Ascribing a Role to Early-Life Conditions

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 407-407
Author(s):  
Laura Upenieks ◽  
Yingling Liu
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Process Model ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Marital Support ◽  
Lagged Dependent Variable ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Marital Strain

Abstract Decades of research have the beneficial effects of marital support and the detrimental consequences of marital strain on health and well-being. However, we know relatively less about how circumstances in childhood—a key developmental period of the life course—influence the relational structure in which later life is embedded and any implications this may hold for well-being. We integrate the life course perspective with the stress process model to offer a framework for how childhood conditions (childhood happiness, family structure, and financial strain) moderate the relationship between marital support/strain and subjective well-being in older adulthood in potentially different ways for men and women. The consequences of marital strain may be more severe and the benefits of marital support may not be as strongly felt for those adults who experienced greater adversity during childhood. Drawing on longitudinal data from Waves 2 (2010-2011) and 3 (2015-2016) of the NSHAP project (N = 1,376), results from lagged dependent variable models suggest that marital support buffers the effect of not living with both parents in childhood on subjective well-being for men. Meanwhile, women raised in families that experienced financial hardship reported lower subjective well-being in the context of marital strain in later life. No significant interaction effects were obtained for childhood happiness. Taken together, our findings suggest that adverse experiences in childhood can be scarring, particularly in the context of strained intimate relationships. However, a supportive marriage can, in some cases, offset the effects of childhood hardship on subjective well-being in later life.

scholarly journals A Longitudinal Study of Allostatic Load in Later Life: The Role of Sex, Birth Cohorts, and Risk Accumulation

2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 419-442 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ioana van Deurzen ◽  
Bram Vanhoutte
Keyword(s):  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Allostatic Load ◽  
Later Life ◽  
The Body ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Birth Cohorts ◽  
Wear And Tear ◽  
The Life Course

Are challenging life courses associated with more wear and tear on the biological level? This study investigates this question from a life-course perspective by examining the influence of life-course risk accumulation on allostatic load (AL), considering the role of sex and birth cohorts. Using biomarker data collected over three waves (2004, 2008, and 2012) of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing ( N = 3,824) in a growth curve framework, AL trajectories over a period of 8 years are investigated. Our results illustrate that AL increases substantially in later life. Men have higher AL than women, but increases are similar for both sexes. Older cohorts have both higher levels and a steeper increase of AL over time. Higher risk accumulation over the life course goes hand in hand with higher AL levels and steeper trajectories, contributing to the body of evidence on cumulative (dis)advantage processes in later life.

scholarly journals Trajectories, Turning Points, and Interruptions: How Social Inequality Shapes Women’s Later-Life Health

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 508-509
Author(s):  
Marissa Gilbert ◽  
Jessica Kelley
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Women’S Health ◽  
Women's Health ◽  
Turning Points ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Theoretical Work ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Potential Health ◽  
The Life Course

Abstract We explore women’s health in midlife and later life at the nexus of structural sexism and the life course perspective, applying Dannefer’s (2018) concept of life course reflexivity, which emphasizes social dynamism with potential health-changing ‘input’ at all ages. We present three types of reflexive changes in the gendered life course that shape women’s health as they age: (1) trajectories of lifetime labor market disadvantage leading to limited health-protective resources in later life; (2) turning points in family structure and need, with draining caregiving demands; (3) interruptions in midlife, such as divorce, erasing the social and economic benefits of marriage. We provide support for critical arguments that theoretical work on the life course has too-often utilized the ‘privileged’ or the ‘male’ life course with insufficient attention to structural sexism as a fundamental cause of women’s health disparities in later life.

scholarly journals OLDER WOMEN'S EXPERIENCES OF AGING: THE PHYSICAL, THE PSYCHOLOGICAL, AND THE SOCIAL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S212-S213
Author(s):  
Nicky J Newton
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Life Transitions ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Social Aspects ◽  
Major Life ◽  
Life Course Approach ◽  
The Social ◽  
Qualitative Interview Study ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Major Life Transitions

Abstract According to the life course perspective (Settersten, 2003), major life transitions are embedded in contexts shaped by personal history and social circumstances “as natural as the changing seasons” (Miller, 2010, p.663). Aging itself is perhaps the epitome of all transitions: a relatively measured movement through a series of situations, conditions, and social roles (Hettich, 2010); a transition that particularly lends itself to a life course approach. In this qualitative interview study, 37 women (Mage = 72.27) responded to questions regarding their experiences of the physical, psychological and social aspects of aging. While themes of inevitability and physical health were evident, the highly-personalized nature of aging was also underscored through individual themes of invisibility, freedom from expectations, fear of cognitive decline, and the quality and maintenance of friendships. Similarities and differences in women’s experience of aging are compared; the need to contextualize aging within the life course is discussed.

scholarly journals New Perspectives on Loneliness: From Micro Qualitative to Macro Quantitative Cross-National Comparisons

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 609-609
Author(s):  
Marja Aartsen
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Ecological Model ◽  
Longitudinal Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Life Course Perspective ◽  
Effective Prevention ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Longitudinal research revealed a number of micro-level drivers of loneliness, such as widowhood, exclusion from the wider society, ill health and migrant status, but a number of questions are still unanswered. For example, the prevalence of loneliness varies substantially across countries, but we do not know precisely what causes these differences. It may be due to differences in the composition of the populations, it may also be caused by macro-level drivers, or by variations in the impact of risk factors between countries. For example, losing a spouse may be loneliness provoking in countries where living with a partner is the norm, but less so in countries where living alone is more valued. Also how early childhood and events over the life course affect the level of loneliness in later life is still under-researched. The aim of our symposium is to address this gap by presenting different perspectives on loneliness and social isolation. The first presenter interprets five-year follow-up information from qualitative interviews with a life course perspective. The second investigates the role of trust as factor producing social integration, which leads to variations in loneliness. The third compares and discusses loneliness in three different continents, based on an ecological model of contexts. The forth presenter critically discusses ways to measure loneliness in societies that are culturally distinct from western cultures. The last presenter discusses the dynamics between loneliness and material deprivation in Europe. The findings provide a new lens through which we can understand loneliness and inform about effective prevention.

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