scholarly journals Older parents and adult children: Traditional relationship or closeness throug or at distance?

Sociologija ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 58 (suppl. 1) ◽  
pp. 287-305
Author(s):  
Sladjana Dragisic-Labas

A good relationship between older parents and adult children is an important part of active aging. This relationship is being transformed in different ways through all stages of life. Closeness, support and care of elderly parents by children and the other way around of descendants, both children and grandchildren by their parents and grandparents definitely facilitates and reduces the amount of care to be delivered from the community and wider society as such. However, the state often conveys its own part of responsibility to the elderly or the children, whereas the traditional culture presupposes a reciprocal care to be a moral norm, hence we get the so called ?nonsense? situation i.e., overloaded and exhausted adult children or burdened parents on the one side and preserved ?state? of well-being, on the other. In this work, we will consider the relationship between older parents and adult children using the collected data from 52 interviews (with content analysis method applied) conducted with people over 65, from Belgrade. It becomes clear that this relationship marks the everyday life - work, reproductive activities, leisure, health, i.e., the most relevant aspects of our respondents? lives. The so called ?distant closeness? proved to be efficient in Western societies and referring to our research, it is described as desirable but not always feasible. . It is also more preferable for female than for male respondents. The male respondents have higher expectations from their children when it comes to care and help. Sharing of more responsibility over needs of elderly and their children by society, could significantly enable the realization of what we here labelled ?distant closeness?.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. 2090
Author(s):  
Shanwen Zhu ◽  
Man Li ◽  
Renyao Zhong ◽  
Peter C. Coyte

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of co-residence on the parental subjective well-being among older Chinese parents. Our analysis included 2968 elderly parents. Parental subjective well-being was stratified into positive well-being (PWB) and negative well-being (NWB). Positive well-being was assessed through questions about life satisfaction, optimism, and happiness and NWB was measured by questions about fear, loneliness, and feelings of uselessness. We found co-residence with adult children resulted in a significant average increase in PWB by 0.17 points relative to those who did not cohabitate. In rural China, co-residence with adult children significantly increased PWB by 0.19 points, and co-residence with a son significantly increased parental PWB by 0.18 points. Negative well-being fell significantly by 0.63 points if co-residence was with an adult daughter. Our findings imply that support from adult children significantly improved parental PWB, especially for the elderly in rural China. Public policies that facilitate the strengthening of cohabitation may help improve the well-being for older Chinese residents. Our study makes two main contributions to the international literature: first, we strengthened the causal inferences regarding the effects of co-residence with adult children on parental well-being through the use of a longitudinal study design; and second, we introduced a difference-in-differences propensity score matching (PSM-DID) approach to address potential selection bias that has previously been ignored in the literature.


Author(s):  
Emem Omokaro ◽  
Ottong Joseph

The study examined the influence of adult children’s family size, stage in family life cycle and income on the provision of care to elderly parents among adult children working in University of Calabar, Nigeria. The cross-sectional study adopted a purposive sampling technique to select 350 consenting respondents. Family size was operationalized as the total number of children in the household consisting of the number of children still living in the house and those who are outside but still dependent on the respondent for some form of support. Stage in family life cycle was operationalized as the distribution of children in each education level (nursery, primary, secondary and higher institution) according to age range of adult children. Adult children income was measured as income of the respondents. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and chi square test of significance. Findings revealed a significant relationship between adult children’s family size and provision of care to the elderly. The more the number of children in the household within the indicated age ranges of adult children, the less the amount of care given to the elderly. Although income of adult children was not a significant predictor of provision of care given to elderly parents, the measured financial responsibility of adult children in respect of the number of children in the household still dependent on them for some form of support, indicated by the number of children in various levels of schooling, inversely affected adult children’s care of elderly parents.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Ana Glads de Queiroz Rolim ◽  
◽  
Alane Siqueira Rocha ◽  

This paper investigated depression-free life expectancy in the elderly population of Ceará, the Northeast and Brazil. We used data from the 2019 National Health Survey (PNS) and the projections of the Mortality Tables provided by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in 2018. Sullivan's method was used to estimate depression-free life expectancy at age 60 years. The results show that, among the elderly in the analyzed regions, women are at a disadvantage in the number of years they will live with depression compared to men. Which suggests that women live longer with depression compared to men. Among the populations analyzed, it was also found that the one in the Northeast showed the smallest difference in the prevalence of depression in the elderly between the sexes, with 11.6% in women and 3.7% in men. In general, the Northeast has the lowest prevalence of depression among the elderly, when compared to the other two regions.


Author(s):  
Vlad Glăveanu

This chapter addresses why people engage in creativity. This question can be answered at different levels. On the one hand, one can refer to what motivates creative people to do what they do. On the other hand, the question addresses a deeper level, that of how societies today are built and how they, in turn, construct the meaning and value of creativity. Nowadays, people consider creativity intrinsically valuable largely because of its direct and indirect economic benefits. However, creative expression also has a role for health and well-being. Creativity also relates to meaning in life. The chapter then considers how creativity can be used for good or for evil.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S324-S324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Soohyoung r Lee

Abstract Even though the coresidence of older parents and their adult children is no longer a rare phenomenon in current society, a little is known about the benefit of living with adult children from older adults’ perspectives compared to the risk of this living situation. Previous research suggests that older adults’ psychological well-being is low when they live with their adult children, and this become more salient among single parents, such as widowed or divorced. The current paper utilizes the National Health Measurement Study with a sample of age 55 and over, and their SF-36 Mental Health Component score, and psychological well-being self-acceptance score was measured. Path analysis reveals while mental health and psychological well-being scores are lower among single older adults at the time of the survey (e.g., divorced, widowed) than non-single, coresidence of older adults and adult children completely mediates the negative relationship between being single and both mental health psychological well-being. A complete mediation effect of living with an adult child on older adults’ mental health and psychological well-being is consistent with both white and non-white minority older adults. This suggests that living with adult child benefits older adults’ mental health and psychological well-being. The current study seeks to stimulate ideas that might generate the next answer to community-based care in our current aging society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 442-453
Author(s):  
Sadhna Dash

As organisations deal with the evolving nature of the new normal, the role of the human resources (HR) is getting redefined to meet the ongoing needs of its workforce. Designing employee–HR experiences in an uncertain and ambiguous work world emerges as one of the top challenges for HR leaders. On the one hand, employee well-being initiatives like employee mentoring, virtual mindfulness workshops, health tips and free consulting and counselling services are becoming the norm. On the other hand, the HR function is itself being re-crafted for the emergent workplace. Technology plays a pivotal role, fuelling the need for scaling HR activities to provide next-gen employee experiences. As the war for high-tech talent increases, organisations are re-crafting an all new HR playbook to differentiate themselves as preferred employers. Within the transforming work and workplace context, the worker continues to be in the eye of the storm and demands both attention and action.


Author(s):  
Mercedes Gómez-López ◽  
Carmen Viejo ◽  
Rosario Ortega-Ruiz

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are both stages in which romantic relationships play a key role in development and can be a source of both well-being and negative outcomes. However, the limited number of studies prior to adulthood, along with the multiplicity of variables involved in the romantic context and the considerable ambiguity surrounding the construct of well-being, make it difficult to reach conclusions about the relationship between the two phenomena. This systematic review synthesizes the results produced into this topic over the last three decades. A total of 112 studies were included, following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis Protocols (PRISMA-P) guidelines. On the one hand, these works revealed the terminological heterogeneity in research on well-being and the way the absence of symptoms of illness are commonly used to measure it, while on the other hand, they also showed that romantic relationships can be an important source of well-being for both adolescents and emerging adults. The findings underline the importance of providing a better definition of well-being, as well as to attribute greater value to the significance of romantic relationships. Devoting greater empirical, educational, and community efforts to romantic development in the stages leading up to adulthood are considered necessary actions in promoting the well-being of young people.


2020 ◽  
Vol 61 (4) ◽  
pp. 418-436
Author(s):  
Shira Offer

Using egocentric network data from the University of California Social Networks Study (1,136 respondents; 11,536 alters), this study examines how difficult ties—an unexplored form of social negativity—are associated with well-being. Findings show that well-being is affected by the quality of the relationship rather than its presence in the network. Having a nondifficult partner is associated with lower loneliness compared to having no partner, but having no partner and having a difficult partner are related to similar levels of loneliness. Likewise, having difficult adult children and having no adult children are associated with reporting greater psychological distress than having nondifficult adult children. Consistent with the stress process model, the negative association of a difficult partner with well-being is buffered when that partner is otherwise supportive and when the other ties in the network are supportive. However, that association is amplified when the other ties are also difficult.


1982 ◽  
Vol 49 (3) ◽  
pp. 89-91 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jean E. Burton

This paper explores the principles of humanistic psychology and their application in the care of elderly institutionalized people. Activities already used by occupational therapists which can enhance the self-actualization process are described and other activities which could be incorporated into activity programs are suggested. The influence of staff attitudes on residents' well-being is a vital factor in geriatric care and must be taken into account in any form of programming.


2003 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 247-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Wiklund ◽  
Per Davidsson ◽  
Frédéric Delmar

This study focuses on small business managers‘ motivation to expand their firms. More specifically, we examine the relationships between expected consequences of growth on the one hand, and overall attitude toward growth on the other. Data were collected in three separate studies over a ten-year period using the same measuring instrument. The results suggest that noneconomic concerns may be more important than expected financial outcomes in determining overall attitude toward growth. In particular, the concern for employee well-being comes out strongly. We interpret this as reflecting a concern that the positive atmosphere of the small organization may be lost in growth. We conclude that this concern may be a cause for recurrent conflict for small business managers when deciding about the future route for their firms.


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