Analysts often use different conceptual definitions of a cohort effect, and therefore different statistical methods, which lead to differing empirical results. A definition often used in sociology assumes that cohorts have unique characteristics confounded by age and period effects, whereas epidemiologists often conceive that period and age effects interact to produce cohort effects. The present study aims to illustrate these differences by estimating age, period, and cohort (APC) effects on obesity prevalence in the U.S. from 1971–2006 using both conceptual approaches. Data were drawn from seven cross-sectional waves of the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Obesity was defined as BMI≥30 for adults and ≥95th percentile for children under the age of 20. APC effects were estimated using the classic constraint-based method (first-order effects estimated and interpreted), the Holford method (first-order effects estimated but second-order effects interpreted), and median polish method (second-order effects are estimated and interpreted). Results indicated that all methods report significant age and period effects, with lower obesity prevalence in early life as well as increasing prevalence in successive surveys. Positive cohort effects for more recently born cohorts emerged based on the constraint-based model; when cohort effects were considered second-order estimates, no significant effects emerged. First-order estimates of age-period-cohort effects are often criticized because of their reliance on arbitrary constraints, but may be conceptually meaningful for sociological research questions. Second-order estimates are statistically estimable and produce conceptually meaningful results for epidemiological research questions. Age-period-cohort analysts should explicitly state the definition of a cohort effect under consideration. Our analyses suggest that the prevalence of obesity in the U.S. in the latter part of the 20th century rose across all birth cohorts, in the manner expected based on estimated age and period effects. As such, the absence or presence of cohort effects depends on the conceptual definition and therefore statistical method used.

Later‐life families encompass the legal, biological, romantic, and kin‐like relationships of persons ages 65 and older. Research on older families has flourished over the past decade, as population aging has intensified concerns regarding the capacities of families to care for older adults and the adequacy of public pension systems to provide an acceptable standard of living. Shifting patterns of family formation over the past half‐century have created a context in which contemporary older adults' family lives differ markedly from earlier generations. Decreasing numbers of adults are growing old with their first and only spouse, with rising numbers divorcing, remarrying, forming non‐marital romantic partnerships, or living single by choice. Remarriage and the formation of stepfamilies pose challenges and opportunities as older adults negotiate complex decisions such as inheritance and caregiving. Family relationships are consequential for older adults' well‐being, operating through both biological and psychosocial mechanisms. We synthesize research from the past decade, revealing how innovations in data and methods have refined our understanding of late‐life families against a backdrop of demographic change. We show how contemporary research refines classic theoretical frameworks and tests emerging conceptual models. We organize the article around two main types of family relationships: (1) marriage and romantic partnerships and (2) intergenerational relationships. We discuss how family caregiving occurs within these relationships, and offer three promising avenues for future research: ethnic minority and immigrant families; older adults without close kin (“elder orphans”); and the potentials of rapidly evolving technologies for intergenerational relationships and caregiving.

This study examines the ways that widowhood affects older adults' perceived exchange of support with their children, and whether exchange patterns differ by gender. Data are from the Changing Lives of Older Couples (CLOC), a prospective study of 1,532 married individuals age 65 years and older. Spousal loss increases older adults'dependence on their children 6 months after the loss yet decreases children's dependence on their surviving parents. Patterns of postloss parent-child exchanges differ by gender of parent. Compared to widowers, widows are more dependent on their children for financial and/or legal advice yet provide more emotional and instrumental support. However, these gender differences are contingent on educational attainment. Education decreases widows' dependence on children for financial and legal advice yet increases widowers'provision of emotional support to their children. The findings suggest that adherence to traditional gender roles among married couples may influence older adults' adaptation to spousal loss.

Widowhood is considered one of the most distressing transitions experienced by older adults, yet the bereaved display tremendous variation in their psychological and social adjustment to loss. We argue that widowhood is a multifaceted transition, and that its personal consequences are contingent upon macrosocial conditions, such as demographic patterns and gender-based allocation of social roles; dyadic characteristics, including marital quality; and individual-level attributes, such as gender. Moreover, we argue that an accurate statistical portrait of late-life widowhood requires that researchers use prospective longitudinal data, contrast the bereaved with members of a non-bereaved control group, and adjust for pre-loss characteristics which influence both the risk of and consequences of widowhood. To illustrate these points, we present new research findings from the Changing Lives of Older Couples study, a prospective study of older widowed persons and matched controls in the United States. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.

Based on recent applications of attachment theory to religion, the authors predicted that the loss of a spouse would cause widowed individuals to increase the importance of their religious/spiritual beliefs. This hypothesis was examined using the Changing Lives of Older Couples sample from which preloss measures of religiosity were available for widowed individuals and matched controls. A total of 103 widowed individuals provided follow-up data, including reports of religious beliefs and grief, at 6 months, 24 months, and 48 months after the loss. Results indicated that widowed individuals were more likely than controls to increase their religious/spiritual beliefs. This increase was associated with decreased grief but did not influence other indicators of adjustment such as depression. Finally, insecure individuals were most likely to benefit from increasing the importance of their beliefs. Results are discussed in terms of the potential value of applying psychological theory to the study of religion.

There is conceptual and empirical overlap between the concepts of loneliness and social support, but results suggest that loneliness following widowhood cannot be remedied by interventions aimed only at increasing social support. Social support, especially that from friends, appears to be most effective if it is readily accessible and allows the newly bereaved an opportunity to express him/herself.

Bereavement requires physical and emotional adjustment, but the psychological trajectory of bereavement may be somewhat universal. Bereavement support ought to include a focus on self-care and health promotion in addition to emotional support, especially because those with poor health initially may be most susceptible to prolonged and intense clinical distress.

Maintaining continuity in the realm of social participation is a strategy older adults use to cope with spousal loss; however, not all widowed persons have the same resources to alter their levels of social participation.