Social relations in older adults: Secular trends and longitudinal changes over a 16-year follow-up

Lyyra, Tiina-Mari; Lyyra, Anna‐Liisa; Lumme-Sandt, Kirsi; Tiikkainen, Pirjo; Heikkinen, Riitta‐Liisa

doi:10.1016/j.archger.2010.05.018

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…These and other recent findings[7] suggest that the importance of specific network members depends on family dynamics and the context of women’s responsibilities. Networks in aging populations may center around family and may be less likely to include social ties outside the family[29, 30] even as ties with families decline[31]. However, women in LACE with low levels of family support appeared to gain health advantages from developing community and religious ties.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study

Kroenke

Quesenberry

Kwan

et al. 2012

Breast Cancer Res Treat

131

100

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Purpose Larger social networks have been associated with lower breast cancer mortality. The authors evaluated how levels of social support and burden influenced this association. Methods We included 2,264 women from the Life After Cancer Epidemiology study who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 1997–2000, and provided data on social networks (spouse or intimate partner, religious/social ties, volunteering, time socializing with friends, and number of first-degree female relatives), social support, and caregiving. 401 died during a median follow-up of 10.8 years follow-up with 215 from breast cancer. We used delayed entry Cox proportional hazards regression to evaluate associations. Results In multivariate-adjusted analyses, social isolation was unrelated to recurrence or breast cancer-specific mortality. However, socially isolated women had higher all-cause mortality (HR=1.34, 95%CI:1.03–1.73) and mortality from other causes (HR=1.79, 95%CI:1.19–2.68). Levels of social support and burden modified associations. Among those with low, but not high, levels of social support, lack of religious/social participation (HR=1.58, 95%CI: 1.07–2.36, p=0.02, p-interaction=0.01) and lack of volunteering (HR=1.78, 95%CI: 1.15–2.77, p=0.01, p-interaction=0.01) predicted higher all-cause mortality. In cross-classification analyses, only women with both small networks and low levels of support (HR=1.61, 95%CI:1.10–2.38) had a significantly higher risk of mortality than women with large networks and high levels of support; women with small networks and high levels of support had no higher risk of mortality (HR=1.13, 95%CI:0.74–1.72). Social networks were also more important for caregivers vs. noncaregivers. Conclusions Larger social networks predicted better prognosis after breast cancer, but associations depended on the quality and burden of family relationships.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study

Kroenke

Quesenberry

Kwan

et al. 2012

Breast Cancer Res Treat

131

100

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“…The response options for all three questions were 1) daily, 2) weekly, 3) monthly, 4) a few times a year, 5) seldom or not at all, and 6) not having any children or other relatives/friends/acquaintances. These questions have been used previously [36]. Loneliness was assessed by asking whether the person feels lonely, with the response options 1) seldom or never, 2) sometimes, and 3) often.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual and environmental factors underlying life space of older people – study protocol and design of a cohort study on life-space mobility in old age (LISPE)

et al. 2012

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BackgroundA crucial issue for the sustainability of societies is how to maintain health and functioning in older people. With increasing age, losses in vision, hearing, balance, mobility and cognitive capacity render older people particularly exposed to environmental barriers. A central building block of human functioning is walking. Walking difficulties may start to develop in midlife and become increasingly prevalent with age. Life-space mobility reflects actual mobility performance by taking into account the balance between older adults internal physiologic capacity and the external challenges they encounter in daily life. The aim of the Life-Space Mobility in Old Age (LISPE) project is to examine how home and neighborhood characteristics influence people’s health, functioning, disability, quality of life and life-space mobility in the context of aging. In addition, examine whether a person’s health and function influence life-space mobility.DesignThis paper describes the study protocol of the LISPE project, which is a 2-year prospective cohort study of community-dwelling older people aged 75 to 90 (n = 848). The data consists of a baseline survey including face-to-face interviews, objective observation of the home environment and a physical performance test in the participant’s home. All the baseline participants will be interviewed over the phone one and two years after baseline to collect data on life-space mobility, disability and participation restriction. Additional home interviews and environmental evaluations will be conducted for those who relocate during the study period. Data on mortality and health service use will be collected from national registers. In a substudy on walking activity and life space, 358 participants kept a 7-day diary and, in addition, 176 participants also wore an accelerometer.DiscussionOur study, which includes extensive data collection with a large sample, provides a unique opportunity to study topics of importance for aging societies. A novel approach is employed which enables us to study the interactions of environmental features and individual characteristics underlying the life-space of older people. Potentially, the results of this study will contribute to improvements in strategies to postpone or prevent progression to disability and loss of independence.

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“…Differences in the likelihood of having an adult grandchild in the personal network were also to be expected from the grandparent's age, gender, and health. Age differences were to be expected because older people tend to evaluate kin relationships as more emotionally rewarding than other relationships (Carstensen, 1992) and because older people are from an earlier generation who generally have more frequent contact with grandchildren (Lyyra, Lyyra, Lumme‐Sandt, Tiikkainen, & Heikkinen, 2010). Grandmothers are more likely to identify an adult grandchild in their network than grandfathers because women are generally more involved in kin relationships than men (Michalski & Shackelford, 2005) and also because the grandmother role concerning network membership is more prescribed by gender norms than the grandfather role (Reitzes & Mutran, 2004b).…”

Section: Adult Grandchildren's Membership In Grandparents' Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%

The grandparent–grandchild relationship in childhood and adulthood: A matter of continuation?

Geurts

Tilburg

Poortman

2011

Personal Relationships

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Social relations in older adults: Secular trends and longitudinal changes over a 16-year follow-up

Cited by 10 publications

References 36 publications

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study

Social networks, social support, and burden in relationships, and mortality after breast cancer diagnosis in the Life After Breast Cancer Epidemiology (LACE) Study

Individual and environmental factors underlying life space of older people – study protocol and design of a cohort study on life-space mobility in old age (LISPE)

The grandparent–grandchild relationship in childhood and adulthood: A matter of continuation?

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