Support In Later Life Research Articles

Family Disruption and Support in Later Life: A Comparative Study Between the United Kingdom and Italy

Global population aging has led to considerable disquiet about future support for frail older people; however, the determinants are poorly understood. Moreover, most industrialized societies have witnessed considerable changes in family behavior (e.g., rises in divorce and declining fertility). Such trends may have adversely affected the support systems of older people; nonetheless, only recently has research begun to address this issue. Employing data from the longitudinal British Household Panel Survey (1991–2003) and the 1998 Indagine Multiscopo sulle Famiglie “Famiglia, soggetti sociali e condizione dell’infanzia,” we investigated the association between family disruptions due to divorce, separation, or death and three key dimensions of informal support: (i) frequency of contact with unrelated friends (among all respondents aged 65 years and over); (ii) co‐residence with children (among unmarried mothers aged 65 years and over); and (iii) regular or frequent help received from children (e.g., household assistance including care) among parents aged 65 years and over. In addition, we conducted a comparative investigation of the relationship between family disruptions and the use of home care services (i.e., health visitor or district nurse; home help; meals‐on‐wheels) among parents aged 65 years and over. Our findings suggest that in a culture like the U.K.'s, where relations between kin are primarily influenced by individualistic values, support in later life appears to be primarily related to need, whereas in societies with a strong familistic culture (like Italy's), support is received irrespective of the older person's individual characteristics.

Social support in later life: Examining the roles of childhood and adulthood cognition

Social support is associated with health in old age. However, it is unclear whether this association is because social support helps maintain health or because people who are healthier are also advantaged in other ways (cognitive ability, education, wealth etc.) and thus have better access to social support. To investigate possible causal direction, we examined social support in later life in relation to cognitive ability in childhood (11 years) and later life (64 years). Our participants were 266 adults aged about 64 years (132 men, 134 women) recruited to the Aberdeen Birth Cohort 1936 study. Higher childhood cognitive ability, but not cognitive ability in later life, was associated with receiving less practical and emotional support, and being less satisfied with the support received. This pattern of results suggests that the relationship between cognition and social support is determined early in life and continues into later life.

Marital disruptions and loss of support in later life: a longitudinal study of the United Kingdom

Marital disruption (i.e. due to death, divorce or separation) at older ages is an important issue as it removes the usual primary source of help and support: a husband or wife. To date, few studies have investigated the support implications (both informal, here defined as perceived support and social embeddedness and formal, defined as use of domiciliary care services) of marital disruptions in later life. This issue needs addressing as widow(er)hood and divorce are increasingly occurring at older ages. Employing data from the longitudinal British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) (1991-2003) we investigated the association between marital disruption and first loss of (a) perceived support and (b) at least weekly contact with at least one non-relative friend, among those aged 50 and over. We also examined first use of domiciliary care services (i.e. health visitor or district nurse, home help or meals-on-wheels) among those aged 70 and over. Our findings show that marital separation increased the odds of losing perceived support whereas widow(er)hood showed no significant association among people aged 50 and over. Separation and widow(er)hood increased the odds of losing weekly contact with non-relative friends (although the odds were greater for separation) in this age group. Finally, widow(er)hood increased the odds of using domiciliary care services among respondents aged 70 and over.

Ageing in a non-heterosexual context

There is increasing recognition of the importance of social and cultural differences in shaping the diversity of the ageing experience in contemporary Britain. Various social and cultural factors, such as those associated with class, ethnicity, gender and disability, influence people's living circumstances and sources of support in later life. While they have been the subject of considerable speculation, ageing in a non-heterosexual context remains remarkably under-studied. This paper examines the difference that being non-heterosexual makes to how people experience ageing and later life. It draws on quantitative and qualitative data gathered for a British study of the living circumstances of non-heterosexuals aged between the fifties and the eighties. Previous work has overwhelmingly emphasised how individuals manage their sexual identities, but this paper focuses on the factors that shape the non-heterosexual experience of ageing and later life. Particular attention is paid to the relational and community contexts in which non-heterosexuals negotiate personal ageing. This not only provides insights into the specific challenges that ageing presents for non-heterosexuals, but also offers insights into the challenges faced by ageing non-heterosexuals and heterosexuals in ‘detraditionalised’ settings.

Life-Span Developmental Psychology: Midlife and Later Years in Western and Non-Western Societies

This chapter discusses the basis on which studies have been done on the later years of life in Western and non-Western cultures. It suggests that because Westerners value independence, most research on aging in Western societies has focused on how to help the individual maintain his or her functional independence throughout the life-span. Non-Westerners, on the other hand, value interdependence. Therefore, most research on aging has focused on the availability of social support in later life. But with Westernization influences in non-Western societies, there should be a shift in research efforts in order to accommodate a new understanding of aging and human development that includes the promotion of functional independence in later life.

Welfare participation and social support in late life.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among participation in welfare programs, gender, and change in social support in adults aged 65 and older. It was hypothesized that older men receiving public assistance would encounter more social network problems than older women on welfare. The findings reveal that during the 7-year study older men in receipt of welfare benefits, compared with older women on welfare, received less social support from others, were more dissatisfied with the assistance they got, and encountered more negative interaction from informal social network members (i.e., family and friends). The results suggest that those who administer welfare programs, as well as public policymakers, should consider developing interventions that address the wider psychosocial problems associated with receiving public assistance.

Welfare participation and social support in late life.

Welfare participation and social support in late life.

Genetic and environmental influences on social support in later life: a longitudinal analysis.

The present study assessed the etiology of individual differences in social support over a six-year period. The availability of friend support, family support, and the perceived adequacy of the social support network was assessed three times using identical and same-gender fraternal twins reared together and reared apart from the Swedish Adoption/Twin Study of Aging. Results are based on the pairwise responses at the three occasions of measurement (labeled Q1, Q2, and Q3): 462 pairs at Q1 (assessed October 1984), 474 pairs at Q2 (October 1987), and 431 pairs at Q3 (October 1990). The longitudinal phenotypic correlations (ranging from .49 to .77) indicate that social support is a moderately stable characteristic. Qualitative genetic model-fitting analyses resulted in significant heritability estimates for the social support measures at all three measurement occasions. Results also indicate considerable stability in genetic effects across measurement occasions, with genetic correlations ranging from .65 to .97. Nonshared environmental influences were substantial contributors to social support, but were less stable across the measurement occasions, with correlations ranging from .07 to .52.

Social support in later life: a study of three areas

The research reported in this article examines elderly people's family and community networks in three urban areas of England: Bethnal Green, Wolverhampton and Wood ford. These were the locations for a number of major studies in the 1940s and 1950s. Four decades on from the original studies, a social network approach was used to explore changes in the social relationships in these three areas. The research sought to assess whom older people identified as 'important' in their lives, and the role such people played in the provision and receipt of support. The study found that respond ents do not mobilize the whole of their social network when looking for support. Instead, a section of the social network is drawn upon (mainly immediate family) to provide specific kinds of assistance. In addition, locally available friends offer comple mentary or alternative sources of help. This is a change from the earlier Wolver hampton and Bethnal Green studies, although it is consistent with the significance of friendship highlighted in the original study of Woodford. The paper also reports clear evidence of older people being active in reciprocal exchanges across their networks, particularly in respect of confiding in and talking to people about health issues but much less so in relation to instrumental support, such as help with household chores, transport and financial advice.

Living alone and neighborhood characteristics as predictors of social support in late life.

The purpose of this study was to devise and test a conceptual model that explains how neighborhood quality, fear of crime, and received emotional support affect an elderly person's expectations of future assistance should the need arise (i.e., anticipated support). Using a nationwide survey of older adults, a series of nested latent variable models was tested to determine if the social support process differs between older adults living alone and those living with others. Consistent with a social ecological perspective, data suggest that anticipated support is lower among elders who live in deteriorated neighborhoods than among older adults who live in well-maintained neighborhoods. Moreover, the deleterious effects of run-down neighborhoods appear to be especially pronounced for older adults who live alone. Select constructs that link deteriorated neighborhoods with anticipated support are explored. Suggestions for future research are made.

Gender, informal social support networks, and elderly urban African Americans

Using data derived from a semi-longitudinal interview study of 45 urban, community-living African Americans aged 65 and over, this paper explores gender differences in informal social support. Women were found to have significantly larger, more extended informal social support networks than men. Adult children, daughters in particular, were key figures in the networks, especially for women. Men, especially men married to women who were not the mothers of their children, have small and vulnerable networks. The size and composition of informal social support networks were stable over a six month period, despite some change in the health and physical functioning of respondents. Informal social support networks existed long before such networks needed to be mobilized for caregiving purposes, and such networks arose in response to socioeconomic and affiliative needs across the entire lifespan rather than just in response to health or physical function needs in late life. Societal marginalisation of Black men throughout their life has had profound effects on their access to informal social support in late life.

Maternal caregiving style and infant fussing and crying in a Danish community sample: Preliminary findings

Cette étude porte sur la relation, dans l’âge avancé, entre le soutien social et des indicateurs de santé mentale : la dépression et l’estime de soi.Une méthodologie statistique innovante a été mise en œuvre : l’analyse en cluster. Quatre-vingt-treize participants âgés vivant au domicile ont été recrutés. Différentes échelles ont permis d’évaluer le soutien social, la dépression et l’estime de soi.Des analyses en cluster ont permis d’identifier trois profils de soutien social : Élevé, Modéré et Faible. La comparaison de ces trois profils a mis en évidence une forte association entre soutien social et les variables dépression et estime de soi. En effet, les personnes âgées rapportant un haut niveau de soutien social présentent des niveaux de dépression moindres, associés à une estime de soi élevée.La relation entre soutien social et santé mentale est confirmée. De possibles implications cliniques sont discutées.This study investigated the relation in later life between social support and different mental health variables: depression and self-esteem. Social support was considered according to Cutrona and Russell's approach, which includes six dimensions: attachment, social integration, reassurance of worth, reliable alliance, guidance, and opportunity for nurturance. Several authors attributed to social support a major protective role in mental health. In fact, different links between social support and mental health variables were found in adulthood. More and more studies deal with social support in later life. In particular, the protective role of social support in stressful live events and its relation to mental health or illness have been examined. The objective of this study was to clarify the links between social support, depression and self-esteem in later life, with an alternative statistical method.A cluster analysis was performed in order to group together older persons on the basis of their social support level. Ninety-three French older people living in their home were recruited, with a mean age of 70.72 (SD: 7.06). The social support was assessed with Caron’ social support scale (The Social Provision Scale) which measures the six functions of social relationships. Depression and self-esteem were evaluated respectively with the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale. Cluster analysis was chosen because it allows to bound natural groupings within data and to determine homogeneous groups inside the sample of the study. Then, ANOVA were performed in order to compare these groups as for their depression and self-esteem scores.First, results revealed three social support profiles or groups: High social support level, Moderate social support level and Low social support level. Group with high social support level presents high level for all dimensions of social support: attachment, social integration, reassurance of worth, reliable alliance, guidance, and opportunity for nurturance. In addition, groups with moderate and low levels of social support are characterized respectively by moderate and low levels for all dimensions of social support. Second, different relationships of these profiles with depression and self-esteem were found. The older persons with high level of social support present a low depression level associated high self-esteem. Moreover, participants with moderate or low social support profile present high depression and low self-esteem levels.The relationship between social support and mental health was brought to light. The clinical implications and possible interventions are discussed. In particular, different methodological and conceptual approaches of social support interventions are evoked, such as interventions, which include family, friends or peers.

When Parents Relinquish Care: Informal Support Networks of Older People with Intellectual Disability

Adults with intellectual disability lack the two key providers of informal support in later life, children and a spouse. This qualitative study examined the informal support networks of 62 older people with intellectual disability who had left parental care after mid‐life. Semi‐structured interviews with multiple informants were used to collect data about their supportive relationships. Informal networks were found to be small, dense and dominated by family members. A striking feature was the existence of a ‘key person’ who combined frequent contact, strong commitment and performance of a range of instrumental tasks. Key people were predominantly siblings but also included more distant relatives and friends. These findings indicate that, for this subgroup of older people, normative family roles such as ‘protector’ and ‘facilitator’ (Sussman, 1985) were fulfilled by informal network members despite the absence of spouses or children.

Too Much of a Good Thing? Intergenerational Social Support and the Psychological Well-Being of Older Parents

MEL SILVERSTEIN AND XUAN CHEN University of Southern California KENNETH HELLER Indiana University* We propose that, although moderate amounts of intergenerational support are beneficial to older adults, excessive support received from adult children and provided to children may be harmful by virtue of eroding competence and imposing excessive demands, respectively. We tested our hypotheses using a sample of 539 older participants in the University of Southern California Longitudinal Study of Generations. Lagged regression models are estimated to predict nonlinear change in positive and negative mood over 3 years. Results reveal that among the unmarried and those with low expectations for support, a greater volume of support from children initially elevates positive mood but after the improvement reaches an asymptote, greater support begins to depress positive mood. Providing support to children reduces depression associated with being unmarried in later life but does not appear to increase distress at high levels. Key Words: aging, depression, intergenerational support, well-being. Research findings are equivocal about whether aging parents derive psychological benefits from exchanging social support with their adult children. The inconsistency of findings may be due to the assumption, implicit in the use of linear models, that more support is better. We suggest that excessive support received from family members may increase distress by inducing dependence and eroding the autonomy of the older recipient and that excessive support provided to family members may increase distress by being burdensome to the older provider. Echoing a question first raised by Wheaton (1985), we ask, Can there be too much of a good thing? In this analysis we use nonlinear models to test both the positive and negative consequences of intergenerational social support exchanges in later life. The central hypothesis guiding this study is that intergenerational social support, although beneficial for the psychological well-being of older parents at moderate levels, may be harmful at high levels. RECEIVING SOCIAL SUPPORT Research on the psychological consequences of receiving social support in later life has produced a mixed set of findings. Some studies show that social support improves the psychological wellbeing of older people or buffers the impact of stressful events (Krause, 1986; Norris & Murrell, 1984; Russell & Cutrona, 1991; Silverstein & Bengtson, 1994; Thompson & Heller, 1990), but other studies find that social support has little bearing on well-being (Dean, Kolodny, & Wood, 1990; Krause, Liang, & Keith, 1990; Lee & Ellithorpe, 1982; Lee & Shehan, 1989; Umberson, 1992). However, several studies find that support received from others increases distress among older people (Arling, 1987; Dunham, 1995; Greene & Feld, 1989; Lee, Netzer, & Coward, 1995; Penning & Strain, 1994). These latter findings are generally interpreted in terms of the loss of autonomy and control associated with relying on others for the satisfaction of basic needs. Several perspectives on social support in the aging family suggest that over involvement by relatives-especially adult children-may cause distress in older persons. Overly vigorous support from children violates a deeply seated desire for independence on the part of many older parents (Blieszner & Mancini, 1987; Cohler, 1983; Pyke & Bengtson, 1996; Townsend & Poulshock, 1986). Research shows that parents generally prefer to remain functionally autonomous for as long as possible before relying on adult children for support and generally expect less support than their children are willing to provide (Lawton, Silverstein, & Bengtson, 1994). Indeed, at high levels of intensity, intergenerational social support may cause a painful reevaluation of the relationship around the difficult issue of role reversal (see Chappell, 1991). …

Clarifying the Functions of Social Support in Later Life

Research on the stress-buffering properties of social support contains a number of contradictory findings. At least part of this problem may be attributed to the fact that researchers have not developed a well-articulated theory explaining how social support functions in later life. Based on recent developments in identity theory, evidence is presented which suggests that emotional support tends to reduce the deleterious effects of some types of stress (i.e., events arising in salient social roles) but not others (i.e., stressors that emerge in roles that are valued less highly). This theoretical framework is extended by showing that social support operates at least in part by bolstering feelings of control and self-worth that have been eroded by stressful experiences. However, the data indicate that these beneficial effects are restricted to feelings of control and self-esteem that are associated with the same roles in which the stressors emerged.

Change in Social Support After Retirement: Longitudinal Findings From the Normative Aging Study

Although retirement is generally thought to lead to a decline in social support due to a loss of social contacts with coworkers, the evidence for this is at best contradictory. This longitudinal study examined change in social support among 1,311 men, participants in the Veterans Administration Normative Aging Study, over a 3-year period. In general, long-term retirees reported the least quantitative social support, and the continuing full-time workers the most; however, change in workforce status produced no apparent effect on quantitative support over the duration of this study. In general, qualitative support showed no retirement effects. We also examined more specific patterns of coworker friendship and again found a pattern similar to that of general quantitative support. The findings support our earlier suggestion of a distinction between retirement as a transition and retirement as a state, and also support the convoy model of social support in late life and the selectivity theory of developmental adaptation to aging.

Family Relationships and Support in Later Life

Popular notions that older people are abandoned and neglected by their families, or that older people do not have families, are, in fact, myths. Most older Canadians are engaged in a variety of family relationships that include spouses, children, grandchildren and siblings. The importance of particular relationships varies according to marital status and whether the person has children. Some have followed family paths that are somewhat unusual, such as never marrying or having children. Men typically have spouses to provide support and care when necessary, while women are more likely to experience widowhood and turn to adult children for support. The article points out that older people give support as well as receive it. The article briefly considers elder abuse and neglect, a phenomenon affecting a small but vulnerable percentage of older people.

Stress and Social Support in Later Life

Stress and Social Support in Later Life

Friendship support patterns of older American women

Research during the past decade has firmly established the informal support of family, friends, and neighbors as critical in older people's health and well-being. The decade has also seen increasing attention to informal supports in social policy and services addressing the needs of older people. The support of friends in particular is agreed to be important but the details of its nature and consequence require more research. This article draws on field research of friendship among a population of older American women to ask: (1) How do older women themselves perceive their friendship involvement and its significance as a source of support?; (2) How do the friendship support patterns of later life compare and connect with those of earlier stages?; (3) How do friends relate to other sources of informal support in terms of support exchanged?; and (4) What are the implications for human service professionals concerned with effective use of informal support in later life?

Patterns of Support Among In-Laws in the United States

Based on a review of research, this article outlines patterns of support associated with in-law relationships in the United States. The analysis is organized in a four-part framework. The first part is devoted to parental aid to married children and indirectly to their spouses. Part two focuses on help patterns directed specifically toward children-in-law. In part three attention shifts to in-law support in later life, and part four addresses the effects of marital dissolution on in-law support. The article concludes with a discussion of how various demographic factors may affect the nature of the in-law support structure.