Social network type and informal care use in later life:A comparison of three Dutch birth cohorts aged 75-84

Recent societal changes have increased the salience of non-kin relationships. It can be questioned whether networks types that are more strongly non-kin based give more informal care nowadays. We study how informal care use differs according to network type for three birth cohorts. Data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (LASA) on older adults aged 75-84 years, interviewed in 1992, 2002 and 2012 respectively (total sample size N=2151, analytical sample having functional limitations N=926). We found four network types: restricted, family-focused with partner, family-focused without partner and wider community-focused diverse networks. Wider-community focused diverse networks are more common in the late birth cohort, whereas restricted networks and family-focused networks without partner are less common. Logistic regression analyses reveal that those in a family-focused network with a partner use informal care more often than those in the other three network types, and insignificant interaction terms show that this does not differ by birth cohort. Irrespective of their network type, those in the late birth cohort use informal care less often. However, after controlling for need, predisposing and context factors, this cohort-difference is no longer significant. We conclude that despite large-scale societal changes, wider-community-focused diverse networks do not provide more informal care than before and that among the functionally impaired, the odds of receiving informal care does not decline across birth cohorts

Perceived cultural distance and acculturation among exchange students in Russia

The relations of perceived cultural distance, personality, acculturation orientations and outcomes were studied among exchange students (N = 187) in Russia who came from various countries in Asia, sub‐Saharan Africa, Latin America and the former Soviet Union. The hypothesis was supported that a larger perceived cultural distance between mainstream and immigrant culture is associated with less psychological (homesickness and stress) and sociocultural (behaviour with Russian students and behaviour with co‐nationals) adjustment. The statistical relations between perceived cultural distance, personality and sociocultural adjustment were much stronger for host domain behaviour than for home domain behaviour. Adjustment was higher for participants with more cultural empathy, openmindedness and flexibility. Adjustment showed statistically stronger associations with cultural distance than with acculturation orientations. It is concluded that cultural distance may be more salient than acculturation orientations in studies of heterogeneous groups of immigrants

Het combineren van meerdere rollen onder ouderen: Vermindert of verbetert dit het welbevinden?

Older adults increasingly combine employment with informal care and/or voluntary work. This is good for society but raises the question whether combining multiple roles is also good for individual well-being. Based on data from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (N = 1885), associations between role combinations, role intensity (in employment, informal care and volunteering) and well-being are examined using role enhancement and role strain perspectives. We investigate if social network and mastery (the feeling of control over his or her life) buffer potential negative effects of role combinations and role intensity on well-being. Intensive informal care is related with more depressive symptoms, which is fully mediated by mastery. Fulltime employment is related with lower levels of depressive symptoms, and this is fully mediated by mastery. Social network size does not mediate any relationship between role combinations or role intensities and depressive symptoms. Both parttime and fulltime employment are negatively related to depressive symptoms. The study suggests that combining roles is positively related to well-being when role strain is low. Interventions should be directed at maintaining mastery among those providing intensive informal care, in particular when combined with employment and/or volunteering

Structural equivalence and differential item functioning in the Social Axioms Survey

The present chapter focuses on the assessment of bias and equivalence of the Social Axioms Survey in a 41-country data set analyzed at the individual level. Two main issues are examined. The first, structural equivalence, addresses the question to what extent the constructs underlying the Social Axioms Survey are universal across the 41 countries. The second, differential item functioning, deals with the question of whether there are particular items or countries that are problematic. Exploratory factor analyses (testing structural equivalence) and analyses of variance (testing item bias) were carried out. The equivalence of the scales was adequate, but neither the exploratory factor analysis nor the analyses of variance provided indisputable support for the equivalence of any scale. The results led to three main conclusions: (1) social axioms show important similarities across cultures; (2) numerical comparisons of scores obtained in different countries must be treated with caution; (3) the observed bias was due to both item and country characteristics. Several items showed secondary (i.e., deviant) loadings in the global factorial solution. Level of economic development and religion (main religious denomination of a country) were associated with bias. In the discussion of our findings, a balanced treatment is recommended to account for both instrument and country characteristics that cause bias