Revisiting Intergenerational Contact and Relationship Quality in Later Life: Parental Characteristics Matter

Chai, Hye Won; Zarit, Steven H.; Fingerman, Karen L.

doi:10.1177/0164027519899576

Cited by 8 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…Previous research has found that the high levels of emotional closeness and strong supports within the family contribute to healthy aging in older adults ( 10 , 11 ). The increasing communication between two generations enabled the older adults to find meaningful ways to live and promote the elder’s happiness ( 12 ), while the lack of support of financial resources, housekeeping, or intimate emotions from the children may lead to the depressed mood and loneliness among older adults ( 13 ). However, these studies have paid less attention to the physical function of older adults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Previous research found that a harmonious relationship with children may play an important supportive role for the older adults. A positive intergenerational relationship facilitates older adults with functional limitation to feel more care from their children, which is a dependent buffering factor between functional limitation and happiness ( 12 , 20 ). Thus, the intergenerational relationship may be a key mechanism by which patterns affecting the happiness of the older adults.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Functional limitation and happiness among older adults: the multiple mediating role of intergenerational support and intergenerational relationship

Zhou,

Song,

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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ObjectivesThis study aimed to investigate the relationship between the functional limitation and happiness among Chinese older people and examined the multiple mediating effects of intergenerational support (instrumental support and financial support) and intergenerational relationship.MethodData was drawn from the Chinese Family Panel Survey (CFPS) 2018 and 2020. Structural equation modeling was adopted to analyze the association among functional limitations, intergenerational support, intergenerational relationship, and the older adults happiness.ResultsThere was a significant association between the functional limitations and the lower happiness levels among the older adults. The instrumental support from adult children positively mediated the relationship between the functional limitation and the happiness. However, intergenerational relationships were reduced due to the dysfunction of the older adults, and played a negatively mediated role between the functional limitation and the happiness. In addition, instrumental and financial support play chain-mediating roles between functional limitation and happiness in older adults through intergenerational relationships.ConclusionIntergenerational relationships and instrumental support enhance the happiness of older adults with functional impairments, but their role is limited by the changing structure of modern families. Long-term care programs combined with the intergenerational support from families for people with functional impairments in old age would be more effective to reduce the burden on adult children and maintain the quality of life of the older adults.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Functional limitation and happiness among older adults: the multiple mediating role of intergenerational support and intergenerational relationship

Zhou,

Song,

et al. 2023

Front. Public Health

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“…Based on the findings from the 20 articles, researchers deduced that tangible and intangible alimony to aging parents among adult children can be categorized based on the theme of Intergenerational Support Scale (ISS) (Chai et al, 2020) as in Table 4 below Table 4 shows that most adult children are more likely to provide tangible alimony to their aging parents compared to the intangibles. This is confirm with 17 studies on financial support and 8 studies on practical assistance.…”

Section: Thematic Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Tangible and Intangible Alimony to Aging Parents among Adult Children: A Systematic Review

Nur¹,

Alavi²,

Hassan³

et al. 2022

IJARBSS

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The gradually increase of life expectation within ageing society will have an impact on the burden and dependent on children in terms of care, health needs, emotional and social support as well as finances from adult children is the most important factor in the survival of the elderly. This article aims to explore the tangible and intangible alimony to aging parents among adult children. Articles retrieved related to the concept of tangible and intangible alimony to the older person were identified through Scopus and Web of Science (WoS). The findings of this SLR found that 20 articles related to the theme of older person alimony could be extracted as the majority of the articles concentrated on tangible support. The main research gap that emerges is that the aging parents long for intangible support such as emotional support, social activities, biopsychosocial and health information, chit-chat and companionship to avoid loneliness. This phenomenon appeared post COVID-19 pandemic when most aging experience loneliness and depression. This article proposes that community-based intangible support can be utilized in urban and rural areas in an Asian setting. Further research is need to study how intangible support elements for older parents can be successfully implement through the family and community based social work approach.

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“…Although structural and functional aspects of social relationships are viewed as separate dimensions [7,8], they may be interrelated: for example, Connidis and Campbell [10] found that more frequent contact was related to more interpersonal closeness between middle-aged and older siblings. However, Chai and colleagues' [11] work suggests that associations between contact frequency and positive relationship quality may differ according to individual characteristics: in a study focusing on relationships of middle-aged adults with their parents, associations between contact frequency and positive relationship quality depended on parents' health limitations, life problems, and gender.…”

Section: Structural and Functional Aspects Of Social Relationships And Cognitive Functionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Structural and Functional Aspects of Social Relationships and Episodic Memory: Between-Person and Within-Person Associations in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

Hülür

2021

Gerontology

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Objectives: A growing body of research has documented associations between social relationships and cognitive function, while findings are less clear regarding specific aspects of social relationships that are relevant to change in cognitive function. Furthermore, it is unclear whether associations differ at the between-person and within-person levels. Method: The present study used 8-year longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) to examine the role of structural (partnered/married, number of social network partners, and contact frequency) as well as functional (support, strain, and loneliness) aspects of social relationships for episodic memory at the between-person and within-person levels. Analyses are based on up to 3 waves of data from 19,297 participants (mean age at baseline = 66 years, SD = 10, range = 50–104; 58% women). Control variables include age at baseline, gender, education, functional health, and depressive symptoms. Results: Findings showed that at the between-person level, most structural and functional aspects were related to levels of memory performance, with participants with higher numbers of social network members, more frequent contact, and more positive experiences outperforming others. An exception was a higher number of family (child or relative) relationships. At the within-person level, on occasions where participants had a higher number of close family relationships than usual, had more social contact than usual, and felt less lonely than usual, they also showed higher than usual episodic memory performance. Finally, negative effects of social strain and loneliness on episodic memory performance at the between-person level were moderated by social network size, indicating that effects were more negative among individuals with larger social networks. Discussion: Both structural and functional aspects of social relationships contribute to between-person differences in levels and fluctuations of episodic memory performance. Ups and downs of relationships to relatives, social contact, and feelings of loneliness contribute to ups and downs of episodic memory. Potential mechanisms underlying these associations are discussed.

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Revisiting Intergenerational Contact and Relationship Quality in Later Life: Parental Characteristics Matter

Cited by 8 publications

References 44 publications

Functional limitation and happiness among older adults: the multiple mediating role of intergenerational support and intergenerational relationship

Functional limitation and happiness among older adults: the multiple mediating role of intergenerational support and intergenerational relationship

Tangible and Intangible Alimony to Aging Parents among Adult Children: A Systematic Review

Structural and Functional Aspects of Social Relationships and Episodic Memory: Between-Person and Within-Person Associations in Middle-Aged and Older Adults

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