Ambivalence and Living Apart Together in Later Life: A Critical Research Proposal

Connidis, Ingrid Arnet; Borell, Klas; Karlsson, Sofie

doi:10.1111/jomf.12417

Cited by 50 publications

(60 citation statements)

References 81 publications

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“…Our findings are more in line with other recent studies on LAT relationships (Connidis et al, 2017;Karlsson & Espvall, 2016;Lyssens-Danneboom & Mortelmans, 2015), who state that the emotional content of the LAT relationship is the most important for these older couples. If true, this implies that in the event of falling relationship quality, people would opt out of a LAT relationship more easily than in other types of partner relationship.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Receiving Support and Care in Older Age: Comparing LAT Relationships With First Marriages, Remarriages, and Cohabitation

Groenou

Riele

Gierveld

2019

Journal of Family Issues

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Living apart together (LAT) combines intimacy with autonomy and flexibility but, possibly, with lower commitment to exchanging support and care compared with first marriages, remarriages, and cohabitation of older adults. Data from 50- to 79-year-old respondents in the Family and Fertility Survey 2013 (Statistics Netherlands; N = 4,108) showed that older LAT partners are most often involved in exchanging emotional support. No differences were found in the receipt of daily care. Multivariate analyses showed that receiving support and care from the partner was associated with more health problems, higher quality of the partner relationship, and a broader support network. When in poor health, LAT partners were less likely to receive daily care, but not emotional support, from their partner compared with the other types. Partner relationships in later life are well equipped to provide emotional support, but partner care is facilitated largely by help from others.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

Receiving Support and Care in Older Age: Comparing LAT Relationships With First Marriages, Remarriages, and Cohabitation

Groenou

Riele

Gierveld

2019

Journal of Family Issues

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“…But family pathways are not restricted to marriage or even to coresidential relationships. Non-coresidential partnerships, including dating and living apart together (LAT) relationships, are arguably more common than is cohabitation in later life but they remain understudied ( Brown & Shinohara, 2013 ; Connidis, Borell, & Karlsson, 2017 ; Lewin, 2016 ). Dating relationships are concentrated among the most advantaged unmarried older adults, with those who have higher levels of education and are in better health the most likely to be dating ( Brown & Shinohara, 2013 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dating relationships are concentrated among the most advantaged unmarried older adults, with those who have higher levels of education and are in better health the most likely to be dating ( Brown & Shinohara, 2013 ). LAT relationships, which can be conceptualized as long-term dating relationships that are unlikely to eventuate in either cohabitation or marriage, offer unprecedented flexibility and autonomy by allowing couples to define their obligations and responsibilities to one another within a framework of a high commitment relationship ( Benson & Coleman, 2016 ; Connidis et al, 2017 ; Duncan & Phillips, 2011 ; Upton-Davis, 2012 ). Older adults in LAT relationships report less happiness than do cohabitors and married individuals, but also less relationship strain, which aligns with the notion that LAT couples can establish the relationship expectations and norms that work for them ( Lewin, 2016 ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Marriage, Cohabitation, and Divorce in Later Life

Brown

Wright

2017

Innovation in Aging

106

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Older adults are at the forefront of family change as a declining share experiences lifelong marriage and rates of cohabitation and divorce in later life continue to rise. The goal of this article is to review recent scholarship on marriage, cohabitation, and divorce among older adults and identify directions for future research. The varied family experiences characterizing the later life course demonstrate the importance of moving beyond marital status to capture additional dimensions of the marital biography, including transitions, timing, duration, and sequencing. Cohabitation operates as an alternative to marriage for older adults and is increasingly replacing remarriage following divorce or widowhood. The gray divorce rate has doubled in recent decades as older adults abandon marriage in favor of unmarried partnerships or singlehood. The retreat from marriage among older adults raises important questions about the ramifications of family change for health and well-being as well as access to caregivers given that spouses historically have been the primary source of care.

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“…In nations in which the language accommodates this type of living arrangement, it is not surprising that most of the current research about LAT is from Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands and Sweden. Studies in Canada, Australia and the United States have built on the European work of scholars in this area of inquiry (Connidis, Borell, Karlsson, 2017).…”

Section: S O C Ia L E Xc Ha N G E a N D Fa M I Ly P Ow E R Ac Ro S S mentioning

confidence: 99%

Love and Sexuality in Later Life: What Your Grandparents are not Telling You

Bulcroft

2019

Slovenský Národopis / Slovak Ethnology

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In a study of dating in later life, conducted in the Midwest in the United States, in which a sample of people age 60+ were interviewed regarding their dating behaviors and perceived functions of dating at this stage in the life course, preliminary evidence suggests that middle-generation offspring took on the role of gatekeepers of sexual standards of conduct and cohabitation outside marriage. Concomitantly, the older generation displayed modified attitudes about sexuality outside marriage in keeping with the opportunity structures available to them as part of the dating experience. When this paper was published in 1986 there were few studies of later life intimacy and dating, and the focus was on the older daters rather than on extended family or social network implications of dating in later life. Since my study in the mid-1980’s, research has flourished on later life dating and intimacy, but the focus continues to be on the dyad rather than exploring intergenerational family relationships and changes that result from re-coupling in later life. This paper will explore the adult child-older parent relationship in which the older person is dating and posit research questions based on two conceptual areas and one theoretical perspective – stereotyping of older people, transmission of values across generations, and social exchange theory – on which to build future studies of intergenerational relationships. This review of the literature will assist in understanding the middle generation’s response to an older parent’s dating and courtship behavior as well as consider why conflicts about later life dating between adult children and older parents are more likely under certain family conditions. Exploration of the literature on later life dating that has resulted since our 1986 study, coupled with theoretical underpinnings, is intended to help scholars in this area of study conduct research that will be more generalizable and theory-based.

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Ambivalence and Living Apart Together in Later Life: A Critical Research Proposal

Cited by 50 publications

References 81 publications

Receiving Support and Care in Older Age: Comparing LAT Relationships With First Marriages, Remarriages, and Cohabitation

Receiving Support and Care in Older Age: Comparing LAT Relationships With First Marriages, Remarriages, and Cohabitation

Marriage, Cohabitation, and Divorce in Later Life

Love and Sexuality in Later Life: What Your Grandparents are not Telling You

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