Multiple Parent-Adult Child Relations and Well-Being in Middle and Later Life

Ward, Russell A.

doi:10.1093/geronb/63.4.s239

Cited by 130 publications

(140 citation statements)

References 49 publications

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“…Findings provide clear evidence of the ways support, strain, and ambivalence are interpreted by gay men and lesbian women, facilitating a new lens to view adult intergenerational relationships within both solidarity-conflict and ambivalence paradigms (Averett & Jenkins, 2012;Grossman et al, 2000;Solomon et al, 2004). Dimensions of strain, support, and ambivalence may have important consequences for the well-being of both gay and lesbian adult children and their aging parents (Birditt et al, 2010;Fingerman, Cheng, Birditt, & Zarit, 2012;Ward, 2008), and this study lays critical groundwork for future research to address these possibilities.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Intergenerational Relationships of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

Reczek

2014

The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences an

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Reczek, C. (2014). The intergenerational relationships of gay men and lesbian women. Journals of Gerontology, Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 69(6), 909-919, doi:10.1093 Objectives. Despite the demonstrated importance of intergenerational ties across the life course, few studies examine relationships between gay men and lesbians and their later life parents and parents-in-law. The present study examines how midlife to later life gay men and lesbians in intimate partnerships conceptualize these intergenerational ties.Method. Qualitative analysis of 50 in-depth interviews collected with midlife to later life gay men and lesbians (ages 40-72) in long-term intimate partnerships.Results. Findings reveal 4 central ways respondents describe supportive parent-child and parent-child in-law relationships: integration, inclusion through language, social support, and affirmations. Findings reveal 3 central ways individuals distinguish strained parent-child and parent-child in-law relationships: rejection in everyday life, traumatic events, and the threat of being usurped. Findings further articulate how intergenerational ambivalence is distinguished through descriptions of a parent as simultaneously supportive (via subthemes of solidarity) and rejecting (via subthemes of strain).Discussion. Findings from this study provide empirical evidence of how support, strain, and ambivalence in intergenerational ties are identified and experienced by gay men and lesbian women. This study reveals a new lens to view relationships between midlife to later life adults and their aging parents and parents-in-law and further identifies linkages between solidarity-conflict and ambivalence paradigms.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

The Intergenerational Relationships of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

Reczek

2014

The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences an

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“…The response categories for the three variables were very often (5), fairly often (4), sometimes (3), rarely (2), and never (1). Consistent with other studies using that have used similar measures of relationship quality (Sechrist et al 2011;Ward 2008;Ward et al 2009), the distributions of tension were highly skewed; for this reason, we collapsed the lowest categories of each item, so that the scores of both range from 1 to 4. The range on the spousal tension scale was 3 to 12 (M = 6.83; SD = 2.18); the Cronbach's alpha = 0.70.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 93%

Family Networks and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife

et al. 2017

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Scholarship has highlighted the importance of kin relations for well-being in adulthood. Much focus has been on relationships between spouses and between parents and children. However, limited research has explored the role of adult sibling relationships in well-being, and no studies have made direct comparisons among the effects of tension with these multiple family members. Using data collected from 495 adult children nested within 254 families, we examined the differential impact of tension with mothers, siblings, and spouses on depressive symptoms in midlife. Separate multi-level regression analyses showed that tension with spouses, mothers, and siblings each predicted depressive symptoms. Combined analyses revealed that greater tension with spouses was associated with higher depressive symptoms, but tension with mothers and siblings was not. However, Wald tests comparing the strength of these associations between tension and depressive symptoms indicated that these associations did not significantly vary across family members. Interactions with gender indicated that tension with mothers was more strongly associated with higher depressive symptoms for women than men. These findings highlight the importance of the quality of relationships with family members on individuals' psychological well-being, and call for researchers to consider multiple ties and gender when examining family relationships and well-being.

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“…High contact frequencies have been commonly associated with higher levels of QOL or other indicators of well-being in North America and European countries 21,29,[38][39][40][41] . However, some studies have associated frequency of contact with lower wellbeing 42 or have concluded that there is no association between contact frequency and the QOL/well-being of the elderly 7,31,43,44 . Distinguishing between contact with family and with friends, Netuveli et al 5 detected a positive association between the frequency of contact with friends and QOL and, contrastingly, a negative association between the frequency of contact with family members and QOL.…”

Section: Type Of Relationship and Qol/well-beingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social networks and quality of life of elderly persons: a review and critical analysis of literature

Gouveia

Matos

Schouten

2016

Rev. bras. geriatr. gerontol.

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Several studies have documented the importance of social networks for quality of life (QL) in old age. This article presents a review and critical analysis of the literature on the relationship between the social networks of the elderly and their QL/well-being. A survey using interdisciplinary search engines [Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Scholar Google, Science Direct and Online Knowledge Library (b-on)], followed by an in-depth examination of the 37 documents subsequently identified, selected based on content, the geographical context of the study and its publication date, suggested a number of tendencies. In the first place, networks of friends have a greater impact on the QL/wellbeing of elderly persons than family networks. Secondly, the positive effect of the existence of more than one type of relationship was revealed (such as simultaneous friendships and family relationships). Finally, literature suggests emotional closeness has a positive impact on QL/well-being. The present study exposed the lack of longitudinal studies into the causality between network characteristics and QL/well-being. It also revealed the lack of research on the relationship between social networks and QL/well-being in elderly persons living alone. One problematic aspect relates to the fact that few studies provide a definition of the QL measures they adopt, or the rationale behind the manner of their operationalization of the concept.

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Multiple Parent-Adult Child Relations and Well-Being in Middle and Later Life

Cited by 130 publications

References 49 publications

The Intergenerational Relationships of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

The Intergenerational Relationships of Gay Men and Lesbian Women

Family Networks and Psychological Well-Being in Midlife

Social networks and quality of life of elderly persons: a review and critical analysis of literature

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