Resources for Friendship Intervention

Programs affecting friendship patterns can be implemented at the individual, dyadic, network, immediate environment, community, or societal level. Literature specifically focused on friendship intervention is scarce. The relevance of other resources for the design and assessment of friendship interventions at each of these levels is described. Practitioners who design social interaction interventions are prompted to familiarize themselves with the friendship literature and to apply the findings. Even if the goal is not to manipulate friendship patterns specifically, interventions should at least be designed not to undermine existing relationships

A Rural-Urban Comparison Of Preferences Expressed by Elders for Long-Term Care Arrangements

This paper examines the long-term care (LTC) arrangements selected by rural older people, identifies the characteristics associated with their selections, and compares patterns of selection and related factors with those of elderly urban residents. The research is based upon 1,240 cases selected from a larger statewide area probability sample of noninstitutionalized persons at least 60 years old. Results, based upon tabular and logistic regression analysis, suggest that older rural residents are more likely than their urban counterparts to select LTC arrangements that involve both formal and informal forms of care as well as arrangements that are more likely to facilitate remaining at their current residences. Furthermore, there appear to be rural-urban differences in the major factors that explain selection of specific LTC arrangements. Implications for future research and for long-term care policy are discussed

Aging well with friends and family.

Abstract: Aging encourages people to enhance their friend and family relationships. In general, the elderly tend to have more heterogeneity in relationships as they grow older. They depend on these relationships for instrumental, financial and emotional support. As a result, older adults who have many friends and have close ties with their families are more socially and psychologically well-adjusted than those who are alienated from their networks. Article: An assumption runs throughout the gerontological literature that having friends and active relationships with family members is better than not having them. Since the 1960s, when social gerontologists began debating the relative merits of the disengagement and activity theories, researchers have used the number of friends, the existence of active family relationships, and the amount of contact older adults have with these presumed intimates as indicators of aging well. Recently, however, researchers have recognized that not all personal relationships are good ones and not all social interactions affect older adults positively (e.g., The tendency of researchers to assume that all personal relationships are positive is not the only limitation characteristic of the investigations on this topic. In both the family and friendship literatures, samples are often less than adequate, either being representative of very specific subpopulations of older adults or not being representative of any population at all (i.e., snowball, volunteer, or other nonprobability samples). Personal relationship researchers tend to study single respondents rather than pairs of friends or family members. When they do investigate dyads, they often study them in isolation rather than considering them in the context of the family or friendship network. Both literatures are also primarily descriptive rather than theoretically motivated, and, consequently, what is known about relationships is little more than a list of findings of all studies. Each of these personal relationship literatures has additional limitations. For example, researchers have rarely studied friendships longitudinally, making it impossible to examine changes in friendship as people age and to separate out age, period, and cohort effects. Gerontological friendship researchers usually study single-race (almost always Caucasian) or single-sex (usually female) populations; when they do include more than one race or bot

Filial Responsibility Expectations Among Adult Child–Older Parent Pairs

We investigated filial responsibility consensus in a random sample of 144 elderly parent–adult child pairs. Most respondents interpreted the filial role as including a great deal of emotional support and discussion of important matters and available resources. Both generations perceived living close by and writing letters to parents on a weekly basis as less important. Parents, compared to their offspring, were more likely to disapprove of receiving financial assistance from children, living with children, and having children adjust their work schedules to help them. Robinson\u27s A revealed that there was a moderate level of intergenerational agreement on filial responsibility expectations

Intergenerational Solidarity and Support Between Adult Siblings

Using a Dutch national sample containing 1,259 triads (two siblings, one parent), we examined whether practical support and emotional support between siblings are enhanced by intergenerational solidarity and how this differs for brothers and sisters. Sibling support was affected by sibling dyad characteristics and by the relationship with the parent. Having a poor relationship and low contact frequency with the parent enhances sibling emotional support, pointing to a compensating mechanism, which is stronger among brothers. Sibling support is also positively related to parental support, suggesting a reinforcing mechanism, especially among sisters. The results contribute new information about influences on sibling support in adulthood and demonstrate the value of including family context variables in research on specific family relationships

Prevalence and predictors of depressive symptoms among rural older Australians and Americans

Objective: To examine the predictors of depressive symptoms among older married rural Australian and American men and women, using comparable measures from two separate studies. \ud Design: Postal survey for Australians; telephone interviews for Americans. \ud Setting: Rural Australia (6 states and 2 territories) and America (Virginia). \ud Participants: Older married rural men and women, aged 65 years and over, in Australia (n=216) and America (n=156). \ud Main outcome measures: Whether predictors of depressive symptoms, specifically demographic factors, health, pain, functional limitations and social networks, differed according to nationality or sex. \ud Results: Approximately one third of older rural Australian (37%) and Americans (28%) reported recently experiencing depressive symptoms. For Australian men and women, pain was the strongest predictor of depressive symptoms. For American women, dissatisfaction with social support predicted depressive symptoms, whereas no variable predicted depressive symptoms in American men. \ud Conclusions: In the context of a globally ageing population, the fact that nearly one in three older rural people on two continents described themselves as recently feeling depressed is a troubling finding of considerable importance to both practitioners and policy makers. The findings raise questions about the cultural acceptance, definition, and manifestations of symptoms of depression in rural communities, as well as the role of different public health and support systems in the two countries