This study examines changes in family solidarity and mutual influence across generations during the last several decades. It addresses the important question of whether family solidarity and support is declining as a consequence of macro-social trends such as population aging, divorce and remarriage, higher female labor force participation, changes in work and the economy, and possible weakening of family norms of obligation. The study also examines how intergenerational relationships influence individuals' well being as they transition across the life course from early to middle to late adulthood. The proposed grant will extend the Longitudinal Study of Generations into its eighth and ninth waves of three-year data collection. This will allow the first fully elaborated generation-sequential design that is, comparing sets of aging parents and children at the same stage of life but during different historical periods--and allow investigation of three specific aims: (1) the effects of social change on inter-generational solidarity or conflict across 35 years and four generations; (2) the effects of social change on the ability of families to buffer stressful life transitions; (3) the effects of social change on the transmission of values, resources, and behaviors across generations. These issues have important implications for health care and social policy: if the functions of the family have declined, then the burden on public services to the elderly will likely increase.
| Jacobson, Nicholas C; Roche, Michael J (2018) Current evolutionary adaptiveness of anxiety: Extreme phenotypes of anxiety predict increased fertility across multiple generations. J Psychiatr Res 106:82-90 |
| Hogerbrugge, Martijn J A; Silverstein, Merril D (2015) Transitions in Relationships With Older Parents: From Middle to Later Years. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 70:481-95 |
| Lendon, Jessica P; Silverstein, Merril; Giarrusso, Roseann (2014) Ambivalence in Older Parent-Adult Child Relationships: Mixed Feelings, Mixed Measures. J Marriage Fam 76:272-284 |
| Silverstein, Merril; Giarrusso, Roseann (2010) Aging and Family Life: A Decade Review. J Marriage Fam 72:1039-1058 |
| Feng, Du; Silverstein, Merril; Giarrusso, Roseann et al. (2006) Attrition of older adults in longitudinal surveys: detection and correction of sample selection bias using multigenerational data. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 61:S323-8 |
| Henry, Ryan G; Miller, Richard B; Giarrusso, Roseann (2005) Difficulties, disagreements, and disappointments in late-life marriages. Int J Aging Hum Dev 61:243-64 |
| Silverstein, Merril; Conroy, Stephen J; Wang, Haitao et al. (2002) Reciprocity in parent-child relations over the adult life course. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 57:S3-13 |
| Clarke, E J; Preston, M; Raksin, J et al. (1999) Types of conflicts and tensions between older parents and adult children. Gerontologist 39:261-70 |
| Hurwicz, M L; Durham, C C; Boyd-Davis, S L et al. (1992) Salient life events in three-generation families. J Gerontol 47:P11-3 |
