Caught in the Middle? Occupancy in Multiple Roles and Help to Parents in a National Probability Sample of Canadian Adults

This paper considers for a Canadian national probability sample of middle-aged women and men the question of how typical is the experience of being "caught in the middle" between being the adult child of elderly parents and other roles. Three roles are examined: adult child, employed worker, and parent (and a refinement of the parent role, being a parent of a co-resident child). Occupancy in multiple roles is examined, followed by an investigation of the extent to which adults in various role combinations actually assist older parents and whether those who provide frequent help are also those "sandwiched" by competing ommitments. The majority of middle-aged children do not provide frequent help to parents. Notably, the highest proportion of daughters who assist elderly parents are those in their fifties whose children are no longer co-resident. For both sons and daughters, being "caught in the middle" is far from a typical experience in this cross-sectional analysis.multiple roles

Women, Work and Caregiving: How Much Difference Does a Great Job Really Make?

This paper examines whether type of job makes a difference in (a) the likelihood that individuals are providing assistance to elderly relatives, (b) the 'costs' associated with this provision, in terms of both job-related and personal costs, and (c) whether observed relationships differ for men and for women. Data are derived from a sample of Canadian employees who participated in a study of work/family balance conducted by the Work and Eldercare Research Group of CARNET: The Canadian Aging Research Network, based at the University of Guelph. The analysis compared full-time employees in three job categories: managerial/professional (n = 1,996); semi-professional (n = 1,270) and clerical, sales, service, craft and trades (n = 2,112). The data indicate no differences between the three occupational groups in the likelihood of providing assistance to elderly relatives. The relationship between job type and both job and personal costs was found to vary in relation to the extent of involvement in the caregiver role. Job costs include lateness, absenteeism, foregoing promotions, missed meetings, and so forth, while personal costs include the perception of work interference with family life, and perceived levels of stress. Among employees providing between 1 and 4 hours of assistance on average per week, gender is associated with significant differences in job and personal costs. This is not true for those providing more hours of care. For both men and women, there appears to be a threshold (5 or more hours of care on average per week) beyond which neither gender nor job type makes a difference in terms of job and personal costs.caregiving; job costs

Age-Gapped and Age-Condensed Lineages: Patterns of Intergenerational Age Structure among Canadian Families

This paper examines intergenerational connections within Canadian families. Its focus is on intergenerational age structure, the interval or 'gap' in years that separates one generation from the next. Intergenerational age structure is measured in terms of the age of a mother at the birth of her first child. Using data from the 1995 General Social Survey of Canada, the study examines the socio-demographic characteristics of women (n=404) in three- and four-generation families (lineages) that are age-condensed (small age distances between generations that are the result of early fertility) and those that are age- gapped (with large age distances between generations that are the result of late fertility patterns). Across two generations of women, there is a striking similarity in the distributions of age at first birth with just under one-third of the sample having early fertility, just over one-half falling into a normative or "on-time" category, and one-seventh having delayed fertility. However, when matched pairs of mothers and daughters are compared across generations, age-condensed and age-gapped lineage patterns show considerable variability. Although just under one-half of mother-daughter dyads show lineage consistency in family age structure across three generations (most typically in age-condensed/age-condensed or normative/normative age structures), low percentages of women whose family of origin was age-gapped repeat that age structure pattern in their own families of procreation. Socio-demographic factors such as mother's and daughter's age, family size, age at first marriage, and level of education are associated with lineage continuity and discontinuity in family age structure.intergenerational age structure; GSS

The Timing and Duration of Women's Life Course Events: A Study of Mothers With at Least Two Children

This study examines the incidence and duration of women's life course events, specifically childbearing, by generational age structure within the family, birth cohort, educational status, and place of birth. Data from the 1995 General Social Survey (GSS) of Canada is used to estimate the incidence and socio-demographic correlates of age-structured families-- age-condensed, normative, and age-gapped according to the mother's age at the birth of her first child. The results indicate that less than 10% of women with at least two children (N = 1,800) experience entrance into motherhood as a late life course event (e.g., at 30 years of age or older) as opposed to an early or "on-time" transition. Further, the mean birth interval is longer and family size is larger for age-condensed mothers versus normative and age- gapped mothers. Cohort differences regarding the incidence and duration of family life course events are also notable: older cohorts of women (1915-1930 and 1931-1946) have longer birth intervals and larger families than do women in younger cohorts (1946-1960 and 1961-1976). For level of educational attainment, women with less education marry at younger ages and have their first child at younger ages than their more educated counterparts. Finally, Canadian-born women marry and have their first child at younger ages compared to foreign-born women. Findings are discussed in the context of the literature on "age deadlines" and women's family life course events.life course events; cohort; GSS

Framework for the development and evaluation of complex interventions: gap analysis, workshop and consultation-informed update.

BACKGROUND: The Medical Research Council published the second edition of its framework in 2006 on developing and evaluating complex interventions. Since then, there have been considerable developments in the field of complex intervention research. The objective of this project was to update the framework in the light of these developments. The framework aims to help research teams prioritise research questions and design, and conduct research with an appropriate choice of methods, rather than to provide detailed guidance on the use of specific methods. METHODS: There were four stages to the update: (1) gap analysis to identify developments in the methods and practice since the previous framework was published; (2) an expert workshop of 36 participants to discuss the topics identified in the gap analysis; (3) an open consultation process to seek comments on a first draft of the new framework; and (4) findings from the previous stages were used to redraft the framework, and final expert review was obtained. The process was overseen by a Scientific Advisory Group representing the range of relevant National Institute for Health Research and Medical Research Council research investments. RESULTS: Key changes to the previous framework include (1) an updated definition of complex interventions, highlighting the dynamic relationship between the intervention and its context; (2) an emphasis on the use of diverse research perspectives: efficacy, effectiveness, theory-based and systems perspectives; (3) a focus on the usefulness of evidence as the basis for determining research perspective and questions; (4) an increased focus on interventions developed outside research teams, for example changes in policy or health services delivery; and (5) the identification of six 'core elements' that should guide all phases of complex intervention research: consider context; develop, refine and test programme theory; engage stakeholders; identify key uncertainties; refine the intervention; and economic considerations. We divide the research process into four phases: development, feasibility, evaluation and implementation. For each phase we provide a concise summary of recent developments, key points to address and signposts to further reading. We also present case studies to illustrate the points being made throughout. LIMITATIONS: The framework aims to help research teams prioritise research questions and design and conduct research with an appropriate choice of methods, rather than to provide detailed guidance on the use of specific methods. In many of the areas of innovation that we highlight, such as the use of systems approaches, there are still only a few practical examples. We refer to more specific and detailed guidance where available and note where promising approaches require further development. CONCLUSIONS: This new framework incorporates developments in complex intervention research published since the previous edition was written in 2006. As well as taking account of established practice and recent refinements, we draw attention to new approaches and place greater emphasis on economic considerations in complex intervention research. We have introduced a new emphasis on the importance of context and the value of understanding interventions as 'events in systems' that produce effects through interactions with features of the contexts in which they are implemented. The framework adopts a pluralist approach, encouraging researchers and research funders to adopt diverse research perspectives and to select research questions and methods pragmatically, with the aim of providing evidence that is useful to decision-makers. FUTURE WORK: We call for further work to develop relevant methods and provide examples in practice. The use of this framework should be monitored and the move should be made to a more fluid resource in the future, for example a web-based format that can be frequently updated to incorporate new material and links to emerging resources. FUNDING: This project was jointly funded by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Institute for Health Research (Department of Health and Social Care 73514)

Reprint of: 'A new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions: update of Medical Research Council guidance'

The UK Medical Research Council's widely used guidance for developing and evaluating complex interventions has been replaced by a new framework, commissioned jointly by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research, which takes account of recent developments in theory and methods and the need to maximise the efficiency, use, and impact of research. Complex interventions are commonly used in the health and social care services, public health practice, and other areas of social and economic policy that have consequences for health. Such interventions are delivered and evaluated at different levels, from individual to societal levels. Examples include a new surgical procedure, the redesign of a healthcare programme, and a change in welfare policy. The UK Medical Research Council (MRC) published a framework for researchers and research funders on developing and evaluating complex interventions in 2000 and revised guidance in 2006 (Campbell et al., 2000; Craig et al., 2008; Craig et al., 2006). Although these documents continue to be widely used and are now accompanied by a range of more detailed guidance on specific aspects of the research process (Craig et al., 2012; Craig et al., 2018; Moore et al., 2015; Moore et al., 2021; O’Cathain et al., 2019), several important conceptual, methodological and theoretical developments have taken place since 2006. These developments have been included in a new framework commissioned by the National Institute of Health Research (NIHR) and the MRC (Skivington et al., 2021). The framework aims to help researchers work with other stakeholders to identify the key questions about complex interventions, and to design and conduct research with a diversity of perspectives and appropriate choice of methods

A new framework for developing and evaluating complex interventions: update of Medical Research Council guidance

The UK Medical Research Council’s widely used guidance for developing and evaluating complex interventions has been replaced by a new framework, commissioned jointly by the Medical Research Council and the National Institute for Health Research, which takes account of recent developments in theory and methods and the need to maximise the efficiency, use, and impact of research

Planetary system architectures with low-mass inner planets: Direct imaging exploration of mature systems beyond 1 au

The discovery of planets orbiting at less than 1 au from their host star and less massive than Saturn in various exoplanetary systems revolutionized our theories of planetary formation. The fundamental question is whether these close-in low-mass planets could have formed in the inner disk interior to 1 au, or whether they formed further out in the planet-forming disk and migrated inward. Exploring the role of additional giant planets in these systems may help us to pinpoint their global formation and evolution. We searched for additional substellar companions by using direct imaging in systems known to host close-in small planets. The use of direct imaging complemented by radial velocity and astrometric detection limits enabled us to explore the giant planet and brown dwarf demographics around these hosts to investigate the potential connection between both populations. We carried out a direct imaging survey with VLT/SPHERE to look for outer giant planets and brown dwarf companions in 27 systems hosting close-in low-mass planets discovered by radial velocity. Our sample is composed of very nearby (<20pc) planetary systems, orbiting G-, K-, and M-type mature (0.5-10Gyr) stellar hosts. We performed homogeneous direct imaging data reduction and analysis to search for and characterize point sources, and derived robust statistical detection limits. Of 337 point-source detections, we do not find any new bound companions. We recovered the emblematic very cool T-type brown dwarf GJ229B. Our typical sensitivities in direct imaging range from 5 to 30 MJup beyond 2 au. The non-detection of massive companions is consistent with predictions based on models of planet formation by core accretion. Our pilot study opens the way to a multi-technique approach for the exploration of very nearby exoplanetary systems with future ground-based and space observatories.Comment: 49 pages including 31 pages of appendices and references, 31 figures, A&A, accepte