Intergenerational Relations: Theory, Research, and Policy

Abstract

The dramatic increase in life expectancy and lowered fertility, especially in more advantaged countries, has resulted in people living longer and in more complex family structures. Other important changes affecting the family include greater geographical mobility, increased racial and ethnic diversity, new patterns of immigration and identity reformulation, as well as changing work and family roles. With reduced governmental resources available, it is especially important to understand the changing nature of multigenerational family structures, functioning, and roles in individual well-being in order to maximize the effectiveness of informal and formal supports available to those in need. This special issue addresses basic factors related to multigeneration support systems that will be needed to anticipate, understand, and design support programs to cope with the challenges facing individuals in all generation positions, families, and communities in the United States and around the world.Although changing world demographics are transforming family life, individuals continue to find social relations generally, and family relationships specifically, fundamentally important to their health and well-being. As a result of increases in divorce, single-parent families, and life expectancies, new

Families and Health: A Review

“…The family social network constitutes, on the one hand, an important resource to protect individuals' health by, for example, reducing psychosocial stress and increasing one's overall well-being (e.g., Antonucci et al 2007;Franks et al 1992). Low relationship quality between parents and adult children (e.g., An and Cooney 2006;Koropeckyj-Cox 2002) or burdens associated with providing care to kin (e.g., Call et al 1999;Sherwood et al 2005), on the other hand, have been shown to result in health deterioration, especially if psychological well-being is considered.…”

Subjective Social Support in Older Male Italian-Born Immigrants in Australia

“…In measuring social support, distinctions are made between actual support provided (enacted or received social support), and subjective assessments of support (perceived availability or adequacy of social support) (Barrera 1986). We have focused on subjective social support in this paper as evidence suggests that it is subjective assessments of support that have a stronger relationship with health and well-being (Antonucci and Jackson 2007).…”

The Jackson Heart KIDS Pilot Study: Theory-Informed Recruitment in an African American Population

“…The increasing complexity of family structures and dynamics can present challenges for recruitment in offspring studies. These issues include the following: greater geographic mobility of family members, increased racial/ethnic diversity, new patterns of immigration and identity reformulation, and changing work and family roles [11]. Few best practices exist to guide effective and efficient empirical approaches to participant recruitment.…”