Rosemary Blieszner

Aging Parents and Adult Children: Research Themes in Intergenerational Relations.

Dominant themes representing the relationships of older parents and their adult children are discussed. These pertain to roles and responsibilities, parent-child interaction (contact patterns, exchange, assistance, and support), individual well-being, relationship quality, and caregiving by adult children. These are discussed within the context of societal age structure changes. Speculation on the future of research on aged parents and adult children focuses on the application of theory, the need for studies on conflict, the role that qualitative inquiry could play, alternative approaches to family companionship, and investigations on socialization in adulthood.

Aging well with friends and family.

Aging encourages people to enhance their friend and family relationships. In general, the elderly tend to have more heterogeneity in relationships as they grow older. They depend on these relationships for instrumental, financial and emotional support. As a result, older adults who have many friends and have close ties with their families are more socially and psychologically well-adjusted than those who are alienated from their networks.

An Integrative Conceptual Framework for Friendship Research

In light of the increase in the number and rigor of studies on adult friendship and the tendency of kin and neighbor relationships to have become more structurally similar to friendship, this is a crucial juncture at which to pause and assess what we know and do not know about adult friendship, to begin a needed theoretical synthesis, to identify gaps in the literature and to produce guidelines for future research. The purpose of this article is to present an integrative conceptual framework, incorporating both sociological and psychological perspectives, for use in these endeavors. The framework posits that the social structural and psychological aspects of individual characteristics operate together to shape behavioral motifs which, in turn, influence friendship patterns (dyadic and network structure and phases). Furthermore, dyadic and network structure and phases affect one another through interactive friendship processes. The elements of this integrative framework and the relationships among them vary by structural and cultural context.

Definitions of friendship in the third age: age, gender, and study location effects

Friendship is not institutionalized in American society; hence, perceptions of it vary. Rather than studying sources of this variation, most scholars ignore the complexity, bemoan the difficulty it causes in analysis, or eliminate it. We examined the frequency of use of previously studied and emergent characteristics of friendship as definitional criteria and the age, gender, and cultural patterns associated with them. Data are from two North American cities: the Andrus Study of Older Adult Friendships in southeastern United States (28 women and 25 men, age 55 to 84), and the Social Relations Project in western Canada (39 women and 25 men, age 55 to 87). Definitions of friendship differed across age and gender groups within each culture, but most striking is cross-cultural variation.

Benefits of Intergenerational Service-Learning to Human Services Majors.

The study discussed in this article examined the benefits of service-learning using both (a) pre- and postcourse questionnaire data and (b) answers to open-ended questions from 214 students across four semesters of an undergraduate adult development and aging class. Of these 214 students, 117 (55%) opted for service-learning. Although service-learning in this course did not seem to have an effect on questionnaire scales assessing personal social values, civic attitudes, or academic achievement, data from the open-ended questions revealed numerous benefits associated with service-learning. Advantages of service-learning included improving understanding of course concepts, dispelling myths about aging, and reinforcing career choices. The main disadvantage mentioned by students was the time commitment involved in participating in service-learning. Students believed they learned more in a course based on service-learning than in a traditional lecture-based course. Thus, when appropriately used this instructional method is an effective means of engaging students in the learning process, reducing myths about aging, and introducing students to careers in gerontology services.

Social patterns in normal aging : findings from the Duke longitudinal study

Erdman Palmore has written a comprehensive, systematic summary of all extant findings on social patterns in normal aging learned from the landmark Duke Longitudinal Studies in aging. Palmore discusses the implications of these findings for major issues in gerontology and answers such questions as: Do elderly people reduce their social activity? Do they come to resemble one another or become more different as they age? Do major events in later life produce stress resulting in physical and/or mental illnesses? Does sexual activity maintain or reduce life satisfaction and longevity? Palmores conclusions challenge many current ideas and prejudices widely held about people over the age of 65.

The Effects of Alzheimer's Disease on Close Relationships between Patients and Caregivers

The focus in this research is the relationship of married and parent-child pairs in the presence of Alzheimers disease. Intensive interviews were conducted with 11 caregivers for early-stage Alzheimers patients to investigate changes that occurred in their relationships concurrently with the onset and progress of the disease. Over an 18-month period, intimacy declined in both spouse and parent-child relationships. Caregivers were saddened at the loss of reciprocal aspects of the close relationships and found it difficult to cope with the uncertain prognosis. They were unable to complete the grieving process and focus on other primary relationships in place of the lost one because the relationship continued though in a drastically altered form. The article concludes with implications for future research and suggestions for practitioners who work with Alzheimers patients and their families.

Promises and Pitfalls of the Interactive Television Approach to Teaching Adult Development and Aging

Distance learning is the fastest growing instructional medium and presents unique possibilities for students pursuing a gerontological education. This article examines three settings in which instruction via compressed video was presented: an opening class lecture for a semester-long course, an in-service training session on gerontological issues, and a stand-alone unit on elder abuse. All presentations incorporated the use of multi-media methods of presentation. Participants from all three settings provided responses to survey questions that included reactions to the presentation, positive and negative aspects of the interactive television approach for the course, and suggestions for future presentations. Respondents were generally favorable, but suggested that instructors need to be comfortable with the medium and that participants need guidance in how to fully take advantage of the presentation. Promises and pitfalls for each instance of distance learning are discussed, with recommendations for handlin...

Perspectives on Extended Family and Fictive Kin in the Later Years : Strategies and Meanings of Kin Reinterpretation

To identify perspectives on the roles of extended family and fictive kin, the authors conducted a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 45 older adults diverse in gender, race, and class. Five strategies of kin reinterpretation were found. Kin promotion defined a distant blood relative as a closer blood relative. Kin exchange reclassified a parent–child tie as a sibling tie or vice versa. Nonkin conversion created fictive kin by turning friends and colleagues into family-like members. Kin retention kept an ex-in-law in the extended family network following divorce. Kin loss identified the meaning of losing physical or psychological contact with a once-valued kin member. The findings reveal that older adults from both mainstream and marginalized families expanded kin reinterpretation practices as a means of adapting to impermanence in family ties. These alterations helped ensure closeness and mutual reliance, thus providing a bridge to connect the old and new social landscape.

Older Adults' Preferences for Future Care: Formal Plans and Familial Support

A total of 45 adults, ranging in age from 56 to 88, were asked whom they expected to provide care for them if they became frail. Past experiences, family structure, and current relationships with children and grandchildren influenced their perceptions of how they would manage in the future. For some individuals, evidence of family conflict was linked with plans not to rely on family members. Others with formal plans, and those who identified family members as being responsible for their future care, did so regardless of the nature of their relationships. The findings point to a potential transformation in family caregiving and challenge the notion that families are always the preferred provider of care in the later years.