This application seeks funds to investigate the interplay among aging, health and intergenerational relationships in Mexican Americans over time by following up a three-generations sample (older people, their middle-aged children, and adult grandchildren) previously studied in the San Antonio area during 1981 and 1982. We propose to follow-up all subjects (N=1, 125) and reinterview them in 1991-2. Specifically, we plan to examine changes over time in a number of measures of intergenerational solidarity, helping and reliance for help or advice over the long term (ten years). We also plan to examine key life-course transitions, including widowhood, declining health, the empty-nest, divorce-separation, retirement and employment. Where possible, we aim to examine the impact of life-course transitions on intergenerational relationships as well as on measures of physical health, depression, life satisfaction, alcohol consumption, and marital satisfaction. We also plan to examine how changes in intergenerational relationships over time influence the physical and mental health of family members. We feel that our original three-generations study of Mexican Americans has already made substantial contributions to understanding the physical health, mental health and family relations of Mexican Americans. The proposes study builds upon this solid foundation and provides an excellent opportunity to go beyond a one-time """"""""snapshot"""""""" approach to study intergenerational relations and their meaning for individuals and families over time in the Mexican American community.
| Miller, T Q; Markides, K S; Black, S A (1997) The factor structure of the CES-D in two surveys of elderly Mexican Americans. J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci 52:S259-69 |
| Levin, J S; Markides, K S; Ray, L A (1996) Religious attendance and psychological well-being in Mexican Americans: a panel analysis of three-generations data. Gerontologist 36:454-63 |
