Given the significance of family events and marital quality on perceptions of aging among Korean baby boomer couples, both intergenerational and spousal contexts should be considered in examining subjective aging experiences in midlife.

Even though enrolled proxies were mostly persons very close to the centenarian, many of them did not seem to be well informed about the centenarians' thoughts and plans regarding the EOL, suggesting a lack of communication between centenarians and social network members in this respect. Healthcare professionals should be aware that, even for very old adults approaching the end of their lives, discussions about EOL and EOL planning may need to be actively encouraged and supported.

Objective:The death of a parent is considered a normative event in midlife, but little is known about how this loss could affect the relationship between bereaved middle-aged adults and their grown children. Background: Family systems theory postulates that the death of a family member can have a significant impact on the individual and other family members. The death of a parent is one of the most common types of loss in adulthood, which may signal a final transition into adulthood. The death of an older parent may lead to a reevaluation of one's own relationships with grown children.

Despite the emerging literature linking information communicative technology (ICT) use and cognitive functioning in later life, whether the association varies as a function of social environment and birth cohort remain an open question. Using nine waves of panel data from the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (2002-2018), we examined within-person asymmetric effects of transitioning into and out of Internet use on cognitive functioning, and whether the associations vary depending on living arrangement and across birth cohorts. Results from the multilevel models indicated that transitioning into Internet use was associated with improved cognitive functioning at a given wave and decelerated cognitive decline over time. Similarly, ceasing to use the Internet was associated with worse cognitive functioning and accelerated cognitive decline. Further, such linkages between Internet use and cognitive functioning were moderated by living arrangement and birth cohort. The detrimental effect of ceasing Internet use was worse for those older adults who live alone. Transitioning into and out of Internet use was unrelated to changes in cognitive functioning among recent HRS cohorts, namely, the War Babies (b:1942-47) and Early Baby Boomers (b:1948-53). These findings highlight the interplay between technology, social environment, and cognitive functioning in later life. The salubrious effects of adopting an ICT technology, such as the Internet, as well as deleterious effects of ceasing to use such technology, underscores the importance of promoting digital literacy and access to ICT technologies among the older adult population.

Objective This study aimed to evaluate the link between midlife children's and older mothers' depressive symptoms, whether this link is exacerbated in highly empathic mother–child relationships (i.e., shared strong feelings of being loved, cared for, and understood in the mother–child tie), and whether these associations vary by children's gender. Background Empathic mother–child relationships in later life may intensify the link between midlife children's and older mothers' depressive symptoms. Yet little is known about the emotional implications of the mother–child tie for midlife daughters and sons. Method The sample included 234 midlife children (M = 49.75 years) and their mothers (M = 75.27 years) from Wave 1 of the Family Exchanges Study. Linear regressions were estimated to determine the link between midlife children's and older mothers' depressive symptoms and the potential moderating role of highly empathic mother–child relationships. Results Midlife children had greater depressive symptoms when their mothers had greater depressive symptoms in the context of highly empathic mother–child relationships. This association was not moderated by children's gender. Conclusion These findings underscore the enduring emotional salience of the mother–child tie and emphasize the importance of relationship characteristics that may heighten the link between midlife children's and their mothers' depressive symptoms. Implications Interventions to prevent or treat depressive symptoms among midlife adults may benefit from accounting for the role that their mothers' depressive symptoms might play in maintaining these symptoms, particularly when mother–child ties are highly empathic.