Yoshinori Kamo

Racial and Ethnic Differences in Extended Family Households

Prevalence of extended family households and factors associated with them are examined for non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, Asians, and Hispanics using data from the 1990 U.S. Census. Nuclear family households and three distinct types of extended family households (upward, downward, and horizontal) are identified, and racial/ethnic differences in the distribution of these types are noted. I contend that household extensions occur as a result of a combination of economic, demographic, and cultural factors. To examine economic aspects of household extension, I first examine income distributions across various household types. Then, using multinomial logistic regression, I identify economic, demographic, and cultural factors related to the three different types of extended family households. Even after racial/ethnic differences in demographic and economic variables are accounted for, preferences for downward extension among African Americans, upward extension among Asians, and horizontal extension among Hispanics still remain, suggesting an independent effect of racial/ethnic culture regarding household extension.

Division of Household Work in the United States and Japan

This is one of the few cross-cultural studies of division of household work using American and Japanese samples. Tested is a theoretical model based on time availability, resource exchange, and gender stratification perspectives regarding how much household work each spouse performs. It is found that household work is shared more equally in American couples, and this difference is not accounted for by different levels in predictor variables between the two samples, suggesting structural differences in these two countries. Also found is a more rigid allocation of household work among Japanese couples and weaker explanatory power of the model for them. Although the theoretical model applies weakly to Japanese couples, the article questions the relevance of the model proposed and tested in the United States for families in other societies.

Older Adults' Responses to Hurricane Katrina Daily Hassles and Coping Strategies

Using the stress and coping model, this article explores how older adults prepared for and coped with the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Interviews with a sample of 122 displaced adults, 60 years of age or older, provided insights regarding the daily hassles they faced that included securing basic resources, facing communication difficulties, and finding transportation. Positive thinking, modified thinking, staying busy, and spirituality were categories that emerged from the qualitative analysis of 119 participants and explained coping by displaced older adults. Our findings reflect what and how older adults coped with a disaster and have implications for disaster preparedness.

Displaced Older Adults' Reactions to and Coping With the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

Guided by an ecological perspective, the authors examined event, individual, structural/cultural, and family/community factors that shaped the psychological well-being of older adults displaced from New Orleans by Hurricane Katrina. The authors first established the negative effects of displacement on psychological well-being by comparing displaced older adults with permanent Baton Rouge residents. Displaced older persons’ psychological well-being was positively related to their age and physical health. Older displaced women coped with displacement better than men. Avoidant coping was negatively related to the older adults’ well-being, whereas spiritual coping showed no effect. The functioning of older persons’ family was positively related to their psychological well-being, whereas dependence on people outside immediate family showed a negative relationship. Income, education, and race were largely unrelated to psychological well-being. Findings provide implications for future studies regarding the relationship between disaster and psychological well-being and provide practitioners with suggestions for work with older adults displaced by disasters.

Challenges to Older Women's Sense of Self in the Aftermath of Hurricane Katrina

We examined the personal challenges older women faced as they began to rebuild their sense of self after Hurricane Katrina. In-depth interviews with 74 older women approximately 6 months after the disaster revealed challenges in four domains: maintaining social connections, family connections but loss of independence, reestablishing a sense of place, and managing their own health or the health of a loved one. Follow-up data gathered several months after the initial interviews from 21 of the older women indicated that feelings of displacement persisted as they dealt with health concerns, found a place to live, and managed family roles.

Encounters with Katrina: Dynamics of Older Adults’ Social Support Networks

Hurricane Katrina forced the evacuation of thousands of people from the storm-ravaged Gulf Coast. Storm-displaced older adults faced many challenges during the evacuation process and in the months that followed. In this chapter we examine the dynamics of displaced older adults’ social networks during the evacuation and post-Katrina events. We begin with a brief review of the literature on social support in late life, with emphasis on social support in times of disaster. In the next section, we present findings from a mixed method study conducted in the post-Katrina immediate impact period. Qualitative analyses of interviews with storm-displaced older persons provide new evidence concerning reliance on others for help and emotional support as they faced the aftermath of the storm. We also examined their perceptions of the availability of network members to provide future assistance and support as they rebuild their lives. Implications of these findings for developing effective evacuation strategies and meeting the social and emotional needs of storm-displaced older adults during the recovery period are considered.

A Note on Elderly Living Arrangements in Japan and the United States

Living arrangements of the elderly in Japan are examined in comparison to the United States. Historical and cultural factors related to the changing pattern of the elderlys living arrangements are discussed, with an emphasis on the effect of industrialization. Decline in the number of families conforming to the stem family arrangement in Japan implies that policies about the care of the elderly based upon the notion of filial responsibility will have decreasing basis in that country over the long view and thus suggests that in the United States, where there is little history of the stem family, such policies have little basis for success.

Contextualizing Depressive Contagion A Multilevel Network Approach

The purpose of this study is to examine microsocial and macrosocial contextual moderators of adolescent depressive contagion. Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health), the authors find evidence supporting the depressive contagion thesis. This effect is observed above and beyond key social relationship and sociodemographic controls. To examine the role of social context in moderating the effect of depressive contagion, the authors utilize a longitudinal mixed effects model using Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the Add Health survey. The results reveal that depressive contagion is more salient for adolescents who are embedded in dense peer networks and attend schools with high network density and mutuality. Furthermore, popular students, measured as the number of received friendship nominations, are more vulnerable to depressive contagion. Overall, the findings in this study demonstrate a differential vulnerability to depressive contagion dependent on microsocial and macrosocial context.

Historical Trends in Status Attainment

Inquiry into the question of historical trends in status attainment will, in this article, involve the comparison of different age groups and different age groups across time. Mindful of limitations in interpreting differences between age groups as historical trends, this study provides such an analysis. Data for this study are from the NORC General Social Survey (July 1988, University of Chicago) and cover the time period from 1973 to 1988. The data offers an opportunity to both examine certain features of historical change as well as to ascertain its stability.

A Profile of Alaska's Seniors

This research reports the demographic and social characteristics of elderly Alaskans from the first comprehensive population-based study of all elderly residents (N = 9,897). Comparisons to the U.S. census indicate that the sample is representative of state population characteristics. Highlighted here are the unique facets of aging in the state of Alaska compared with the rest of the United States and a descriptive profile of Alaskas seniors, a small but growing portion of the Alaskan population.