Despite several published articles examining various characteristics of intergenerational program research over the past decade, there has been no comprehensive examination of how theory is being used (or not) in the field of intergenerational practice for more than 10 years. This article examines the published research literature on intergenerational programs over the past decade (2003)(2004)(2005)(2006)(2007)(2008)(2009)(2010)(2011)(2012)(2013)(2014) to discover which theoretical perspectives have been applied to intergenerational practice and analyze the questions and issues that emerge from those theories and their use. The authors consider what is needed to advance our theoretical understanding of intergenerational practice and suggest some theoretical directions forward for the field.

Of a sample of 343 married men, prospectively studied for four decades, 52 (15.2%) experienced infertility in their first marriage. Styles of coping with their difficulty in achieving parenthood were considered across three longitudinal phases: initial substitutes, subsequent parenting resolutions, and final marital outcomes. The ability of coping strategies used in earlier phases to predict adaptation during later phases of adjustment was considered, as was the relation between coping strategies and the subsequent achievement of generativity as defined by Erik Erikson. Results indicated that the men's parenting resolutions, marital outcomes, and midlife achievement of psychosocial generativity were predictable at statistically significant levels, on the basis of knowledge of their prior infertility coping strategies and parenting outcomes. The findings lend support to the Eriksonian idea that parenting during early adulthood is a crucial but not sufficient prior condition for the midlife achievement of psychosocial generativity.

Research on volunteerism has focused primarily on the recipients of this activity as opposed to the volunteers themselves. We examined the characteristics and experiences of older adults who volunteered with Family Friends, a program designed to assist families who have children with chronic illnesses or disabilities living at home. A profile of volunteers who remained involved in the program after their requested 9-month commitment and those who did not was also developed Results suggested that Family Friends volunteers experienced a mutually beneficial relationship between themselves and families that provided them with a sense of purpose and personal competence. Volunteers who stayed with the program beyond their required commitment were more highly educated, received a higher annual income, were more likely to volunteer with other organizations, and reported higher life satisfaction. Implications for volunteer recruiting and longevity are discussed.

Although the nature of younger adults' attitudes toward older adults has been researched extensively, there are long-neglected questions regarding older adults' views of young adults. In the first phase of this three phase study, community dwelling seniors generated traits they believed characterized young people. In the second phase, a subsample of the original participants sorted the traits into groups that could be found in one and the same young person. Fifteen stereotypes appeared when these results were submitted to hierarchical cluster analysis. In the final phase, a subsample of the original older adult participants rated how typical each of the stereotypes was of younger people. As well, each of the stereotypes were rated using an abbreviated version of Kogan and Wallach's (1961) semantic differential scale. Results indicate that the stereotypes older people hold of younger people are generally more positive than negative. Further, the positive stereotypes are viewed as more typical of younger adults than are the negative stereotypes.

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