Maria A. Monserud

Judgments About Work and the Features of Young Adults’ Jobs

This study revisits the relationship between adolescent judgments about work and later job characteristics, tackling the twin temporal dimensions of age and history. Drawing on 15 consecutive cohorts of high school seniors, the authors examine (a) whether adolescents’ judgments about work become more strongly predictive of the characteristics of their jobs as they move through their 20s and (b) whether the relationship between adolescents’ judgments about work and their later job characteristics has weakened across cohorts of high school seniors between 1976 and 1990. Findings indicate a limited role of history; the larger life course story of these findings is tied to age. Adolescent judgments about work, measured in the senior year of high school, became more predictive of earnings with age during this period of the life course. They were also most predictive of the level of intrinsic job characteristics at the oldest age examined, but the pattern was not one of progressive strengthening with age as it was for earnings.

Household Structure and Children's Educational Attainment: A Perspective on Coresidence with Grandparents.

Children from alternative households complete fewer years of schooling. Yet little is known about the implications of coresidence with grandparents for educational attainment. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (N = 10,083), this study found that extended households with two biological parents were not detrimental to high school completion or college enrollment. Although coresidence with grandparents did not compensate for not living with two biological parents, it seemed to be beneficial for the educational attainment of youth from single-mother households. In contrast, skipped-generation households were associated with a persistent disadvantage for educational attainment. Limited socioeconomic resources partially accounted for the adverse effects of alternative households, whereas parenting quality did not explain these effects. Interactions of gender by household structure suggested that stepfather households could have negative consequences for high school completion and college enrollment only for girls.

Changes in Grandchildren’s Adult Role Statuses and Their Relationships With Grandparents:

This study examines the associations between grandchildren’s (N = 1,170) adult role transitions and their contact with, and closeness to, grandparents, by drawing on data from Waves 2 and 3 of the National Survey of Families and Households. Findings indicate that this relationship is frequently contingent on the nature of the adult role in question, a specific dimension of intergenerational solidarity (i.e., contact vs. closeness), lineage, and grandparent’s gender. The effect of grandchildren’s adult roles on grandparent—grandchild ties may also differ for grandsons and granddaughters. The explanations suggested by relevant theoretical perspectives—the saliency of different roles, the similarity of life experiences between generations, and evaluations of adult role transitions—only partially account for the patterns of these associations. Future research should take into consideration the mediating role of parents, the geographic proximity, social opportunities and constraints related to grandchildren’s adult roles, and grandparents’ assistance for grandchildren.

Continuity and Change in Grandchildren's Closeness to Grandparents: Consequences of Changing Intergenerational Ties

Drawing on data from Waves 2 and 3 of the National Survey of Families and Households, this study examines whether grandchildrens (N = 496) previous patterns of closeness to grandparents are associated with their current closeness to grandparents and whether changes in parents’ intergenerational ties make a difference in the development of grandchildrens closeness to grandparents when grandchildren experience young adulthood. The findings suggest that there is a possibility for both continuity and change in grandchildrens bonds to grandparents. Grandchildrens closeness to grandparents was associated not only with their earlier patterns of closeness to grandparents and with parents’ concurrent relations with the grandchild and grandparent generations but also with changes in parents’ intergenerational ties over time. Also, the grandchilds gender moderated linkages between certain intergenerational ties in the family.

Depressive Symptoms Among Older Mexicans: The Role of Widowhood, Gender, and Social Integration.

Widowhood is often associated with decreased mental health. In developing countries with low institutional support, such as Mexico, social integration can be particularly consequential for widowed older adults’ psychological well-being. This study investigates the interplay among depressive symptoms, widowhood, gender, and social integration in a nationally representative sample of older Mexicans. Drawing on Waves 1 (2001) and 2 (2003) of the Mexican Health and Aging Study, we estimated the ordinary least squares regressions to examine the implications of widowhood, gender, social support, social network, and social engagement for changes in depressive symptoms between the waves among Mexicans aged 50 and older (N = 8,708). The findings indicate that social integration can mitigate as well as exacerbate depressive symptomatology among older Mexicans. Certain aspects of social integration can moderate marital status-gender differences in depressive symptoms among older Mexicans.

Changes in depressive symptoms during widowhood among older Mexican Americans: the role of financial strain, social support, and church attendance

ABSTRACT Objectives: This study examines how depressive symptoms change during the widowhood process among older adults of Mexican descent. This research also investigates whether financial strain, social support, and church attendance moderate changes in depressive symptoms in the context of widowhood. Method: This study uses seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly collected at approximately two-year intervals. This research applies multiphase growth models to examine changes in depressive symptomatology before, during, and after the transition to widowhood (the measurement wave at which spousal bereavement was first reported) among 385 older adults of Mexican descent who experienced the death of a spouse during the survey. Results: This study demonstrates that older adults of Mexican descent experienced a significant increase in depressive symptoms pre-widowhood and in particular, during the transition to widowhood. The levels and rates of changes in depressive symptoms post-widowhood did not differ from the pre-widowhood ones. Greater social support was related to more depressive symptoms during the transition to widowhood. More frequent church attendance was a protective factor against increases in depressive symptoms pre-widowhood. Conclusion: This study highlights the multiphase pattern in the effects of the widowhood process on depressive symptomatology among older adults of Mexican descent. The findings also suggest that social support and church attendance can have implications for the interplay between widowhood and depressive symptoms.

Age Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms by Age at Immigration among Older Men and Women of Mexican Descent: The Role of Social Resources

Drawing on eight waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, this study uses growth curve models to provide a better understanding of the impact of age at immigration and gender on age trajectories of depressive symptoms among older adults of Mexican descent (aged 65+). The findings reveal that (1) regardless of immigrant status and age at immigration, men have similar age trajectories of depressive symptoms; (2) compared with U.S.-born women, late-life (beyond age 50) immigrant women report more depressive symptoms at age 65, whereas midlife (between ages 20 and 49) immigrant women experience steeper increases in these symptoms with age; (3) controlling for socioeconomic status leads to advantages in mental health at age 65, but steeper age-related increases in depressive symptoms among midlife (between ages 20 and 49) immigrant men and fewer depressive symptoms among late-life (beyond age 50) immigrant women.

Trajectories of Limitations with Activities of Daily Living Among Older Adults of Mexican Descent: The Role of Widowhood

ABSTRACT Using seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (1993–2011), this study applies multiphase growth models to examine changes in limitations with activities of daily living (ADL) across widowhood experience among 385 older adults of Mexican descent. This study also investigates the implications of demographic characteristics, health, socioeconomic status, living arrangements, and social involvement. ADL limitations increased pre-widowhood, were at higher levels immediately before and especially during the transition to widowhood, and increased at a steeper rate post-widowhood. Age and partially depressive symptoms accounted for these trends in ADL limitations pre-widowhood and to a lesser extent during the transition to widowhood and post-widowhood. Older age, being female, chronic conditions, financial strain, lower educational attainment, coresidence with children and others, and less frequent church attendance were risk factors for higher levels of and greater increases in these functional limitations throughout widowhood experience.

Marital Status and Trajectories of Depressive Symptoms Among Older Adults of Mexican Descent

Little is known about the implications of marital status for the age patterning of depressive symptoms in later life. Drawing on seven waves of data from the Hispanic Established Population for the Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly, this research uses growth curve models to examine age trajectories of depressive symptoms among continuously married and recently and continuously widowed older adults of Mexican descent (aged 65 years and older; N = 1,452). The findings demonstrate that despite having a higher mean level of depressive symptoms, the recently widowed experienced a similar rate of increase in distress with age to that of their married counterparts. Compared with the married, the continuously widowed had a steeper rise in depressive symptoms with age, although they had fewer symptoms at younger ages in later life. Physical health, financial strain, social support, and church attendance might account to a certain extent for marital status differences in depressive symptoms across later life.