Charles M. Barresi

Widowhood, health, and friendship support in later life.

Widowhood has been widely recognized as one of the most stressful events in the life course of married persons. This study utilizes panel data from a national sample of the low-income aged to examine the effect of this form of role loss on the health and friendship support of older people. The use of a structural equation model reveals that those recently widowed negatively changed the evaluation of their health to a greater extent than those widowed for longer periods of time. The analysis of change in friendship support among the respondents indicates that those widowed between one and four years are more likely to increase their involvement in friendship than people widowed between measurements or those widowed more than four years. A multi-group LISREL analysis of the married and widowed respondents is used to examine if the causal processes affecting health and friendship support differ for married and widowed older adults. The findings emphasize the importance of considering the temporal dynamics of adjustment to stressful life events andfavor a compensation model of role loss and social integration.

The Impact of Widowhood on the Social Relations of Older Persons.

The impact of widowhood on family, friend, and neighbor relations of the elderly is examined. A review of the pertinent literature indicates that most studies analyze information concerning social relations after widowhood without explicit knowledge of such characteristics before widowhood. In order to assess the social impact of widowhood on older persons, this study utilizes panel data from a national survey of the low-income aged. Widows are classified into three categories, according to the amount of time since the death of their spouse, and compared to married persons on measures of family, friend, and neighbor interaction. Regressing time two on time one measures and several personal characteristics reveals that those widowed from one to four years have more frequent contact with neighbors than married persons do. One of the most important findings is the general stability of the recently widowed in regard to family relations. However, for those persons who have been widowed more than four years, lower levels of social interaction are observed on measures of family contact. The findings seriously question the utility of the decremental model for analyzing stressful life events and emphasize the temporal dynamics of adjustment to role loss.

Environmental Satisfaction, Sociability, and Well-Being among Urban Elderly

A review of the literature indicates that until recently little attention has been paid to the effects of the environment on well-being among the aged. This study analyzes data relevant to both the individual and his or her environment from a large (N = 2265) national sample of low- and middle-income elderly. A recursive causal model is presented; the results indicate that perceived health and housing satisfaction contribute the most to well-being among the elderly. In addition, for men and women home ownership was not found to affect well-being positively. For men who owned their own homes lower scores on well-being were reported. The findings also indicate that while the quantity of neighbor interaction benefits the well-being of men, women benefit more from the positive sentiments of sociability in the neighborhood. This study emphasizes the importance of environmental satisfaction and neighborhood sociability as key determinants of well-being in later life.

Are Drug Education Programs Effective

The effects of expert speakers in producing change in drug attitudes, opinions and knowledge of high school students were evaluated with a quasi-field experiment. Three different treatment groups (expertise areas) and a control group were employed. The results indicate that such programs have no change effect. Additional analysis explored change by student type, using the latent class analysis suggested by Lazarsfeld. There is evidence that one class type is susceptible to change, but that the change is minimal given this type of program.

Adult day care participation among impaired elderly

This study evaluates 35 impaired elderly clients of a social day care center and compares them with 116 impaired persons taken from a random sample of community elderly using the Duke Older Americans Resources and Services (OARS) functional assessment instrument. Multiple discriminant analysis is used to determine if factors exist which predict use of adult day care facilities. Results indicate that three domains distinguish day care participation; social resources, economic, and mental health. Discussion and implications center on the conclusion that day care clients are more likely labeled as dependent by their families than are impaired community elderly.