Carol D. H. Harvey

The Effects of Children, Dual Earner Status, Sex Role Traditionalism, and Marital Structure on Marital Happiness Over Time

In this study, the link between marital happiness and the advent of children is demonstrated, accounting for dual earner status, sex role traditionalism, and marital structure. A subset of 1,275 respondents from a longitudinal data set (Marital Instability Over the Life Course: A Three Wave Panel Study, 1980–1988) whom remained married through the 3 waves was used to compare the level of marital happiness of respondents who added children between waves to those who did not. Although the addition of children negatively affected marital structure and thus indirectly lowered marital happiness, results showed children also had positive counterbalancing direct effects. Dual-earner status, income, and sex role nontraditionalism were shown to mitigate the negative effects of children on marital happiness.

Ethnicity and Intergenerational Perceptions of Family Solidarity.

Intergenerational interaction between matched pairs of older parents and their middle-aged offspring were explored in this research, comparing Mennonites and non-Mennonites. Middle-aged respondents replied to a mailed questionnaire, and their parents were interviewed. Five dimensions of family solidarity were compared between the generations, with the result that middle-aged offspring typically report less family solidarity than do their parents. These results are explained in terms of the concept of the “developmental stake.”

Correlates of morale among Canadian widowed persons

SummaryThe effect of widowhood upon global happiness and morale are considered in this paper. Data come from the Canada Health Survey, conducted from July 1978 through March 1979, using 11,071 subjects age 40 and over. A major objective was to assess the independent contributions of five factors, marital status, sex, socioeconomic status, age, and religiosity in predicting morale. Results showed thatwidowed people of lower socioeconomic status were significantly less happy and more negative in mood than non-widowed persons. No sex differences were found. Younger people had more negative morale than older ones. Religiosity was a significant factor in predicting morale, with people scoring higher in religiosity having higher morale.

HIV as Chronic Illness: Caregiving and Social Networks in a Vulnerable Population

&NA; We sought to understand the support networks of people living with HIV (PLWH) in the Canadian cities of Winnipeg and Regina, particularly of their network of caregivers and with a focus on people from disadvantaged and/or stigmatized communities. Using a variation of the Photovoice method, 31 study participants took photographs of their everyday realities and were then interviewed. Among the findings was the heavy reliance on institutional caregivers and on nonhuman sources of support. There was evidence of peer‐to‐peer networks of care, but the strongest connections were with their formal caregivers. HIV as a chronic condition among disadvantaged and/or stigmatized groups requires paying special attention to informal and formal care dynamics and to where social or family networks cannot meet the basic needs. Honing in on and enhancing these features through programs and services can only improve the situation of stigmatized yet hopeful and resilient PLWH.

Leisure as part of cultural retention of Finnish‐Canadian immigrants

Abstract Leisure, sports, and recreation activities can be a means of facilitating well‐being and coherence in the lives of immigrants. The purpose of the research is to learn how leisure and sport behaviours were integrated into Finnish immigrants’ lives and affected by their immigration experiences. Framed using an ecosystem theoretical approach, a life history method is used to elicit participants’ leisure and sport experiences in Manitoba. Respondents showed leisure practices that were shaped by previous activities in Finland and by work experiences. Further, respondents sought to recreate Finland in Manitoba by building and using a sauna and a summer cottage, as well as celebrating Finnish holidays and birthday events. They also visited Finland to keep current with changes there and to visit relatives. Participation in Finnish cultural organizations was another way to continue a Finnish past in Canada.

Familial Support of the Elderly in a Rural Mennonite Community

With 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.

The Nature of Family Life Among Marginalized People Living With HIV/AIDS in the Canadian Prairies

This article reports on family life for a group of individuals living with HIV/AIDS from Winnipeg, Manitoba, and Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. Participants took photos of people and things that provided support to deal with their disease; they then described the photos, and their narratives were used as data points for this analysis. Eight themes were revealed, and we report on one, family life, which has three subthemes: (a) family separation, shown across the life cycle, from adoption of respondents or of their children; from illness or death of parents, siblings, or offspring; and from physical separation; (b) family support (or lack thereof); and (c) family violence, either physical or psychological, that was frequent and formed the context for interaction. These subthemes are discussed and implications for practice and research are presented.