Chapter 10: Middle-Age and Older Parenthood and Grandparenthood

Question 1

Social Status Transitions

When do these transitions occur?

Answer 1

beginning in early adulthood

Question 2

Social Status Transitions

What do these transitions do?

Answer 2

alter relationships of middle-age adults and their adult children

Question 3

Social Status Transitions – Normative

What do normative transitions of adult children do?

Answer 3

contribute to increased intergenerational closeness and contact

Question 4

Social Status Transitions – Normative

When do parent-child relationships generally improve?

Answer 4

when adult children go off to college, begin careers, get married, and have children

Question 5

Social Status Transitions – Normative

What are the two factors that are attributed to the positive changes that occur in intergenerational relations when adult children experience normative transitions?

Answer 5

• transitions verify that the adult child is conforming to social norms in terms of maturational development
• transitions themselves increase the number of adult social roles that adult children share with their parents

Question 6

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What do non-normative transitions tend to do?

Answer 6

negatively affect parent and adult-child relationships

Question 7

Social Status Transitions

What are middle-age parents experiencing as their young adult children are making normative and non-normative transitions into their adult roles?

Answer 7

they also are experiencing normative and non-normative transformations in their own lives

social status transitions in the lives of both generations affect their relationships with each other

Question 8

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What is one of the main factors in parental conflict when generations share a home?

Answer 8

adult children’s unemployment

Question 9

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What effect does having at least one co-residential adult child do to parents?

Answer 9

decreases the psychological well-being of middle-age parents, especially mothers

Question 10

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

Perceptions of what is linked to parental frustration for both parents?

Answer 10

lack of career success

Question 11

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

Perceptions of what is primarily associated with mothers’ negative emotions? Why?

Answer 11

lack of relationships success

mothers tend to feel more responsibility for their adult children’s relationship problems, particularly their daughters’ unsuccessful relationships

Question 12

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What do fathers tend to accept more responsibility for?

Answer 12

children’ lack of career success

Question 13

Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What do mothers tend to accept more responsibility for?

Answer 13

relationship problems, particularly their daughters’ unsuccessful relationships

Question 14

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What is a universal social status transition, and what effect does it have?

Answer 14

occurs when parents become grandparents

generally has a positive effect on both middle-age persons and their adult children

Question 15

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What are some non-normative transitions of middle-age parents?

Answer 15

divorce

remarriage

Question 16

Social Status Transitions – Normative

What are positive effects of normative transitions due to?

Answer 16

• such transitions verify the conforming to social norms

- transitions themselves increase the number of adult social roles that adult children share with their parents

Question 17

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What is one of the reasons that middle-age adults derive high level of satisfaction from the role of grandparent?

Answer 17

they bring more energy and financial resources to the grandparent role than did grandparents a generation ago

Question 18

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What is grandparent satisfaction related to?

Answer 18

continued development of generativity

Question 19

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What predicts greater satisfaction?

Answer 19

• increasing levels of generativity

- role of valued elder and the meanings that these grandparents attached to this role

Question 20

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

Why is the grandparent role significant?

Answer 20

• one of the few new roles that can be embraced in later phases of life
• offers many opportunities for continued adult socialization
• role is invested with important, therefore has a greater impact on mental health than less important roles

Question 21

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Transition to Grandparenthood

What are some non-normative social status transitions in the lives of middle-age adults?

Answer 21

• divorce and remarriage
• serious illness
• disability
• death of spouse

Question 22

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What are divorced fathers more prone to (than married fathers)?

Answer 22

less regular contact with their adult children

Question 23

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What are divorced mothers more prone to (than married mothers)?

Answer 23

more apt to experience increase in contact with adult child

Question 24

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative

What are financial transfers to adult children affected by?

Answer 24

• divorce
• gender of parent
• remarriage

Question 25

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative Who is as likely to provide financial assistance to their adult children as parents who are not divorced? Who is not?

Answer 25

single fathers, single mothers, and remarried mothers are as likely to provide financial assistance to their adult children remarried fathers give significantly less to their biological children remarried mothers give more to their biological children

Question 26

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative What are some risk factors that influence adult children's reactions to parental divorce?

Answer 26

- longer parental marriage (more emotionally or socially unsettling)

Question 27

Effects of Middle-Age Parents’ Social Status Transitions – Non-normative What are some protective factors that influence adult children's reactions to parental divorce?

Answer 27

- lengthier period of time taken for parents to consider a divorce (allows preparation for divorce)

Question 28

Influence of Role Transitions on the Relationships of Older and Middle-Age Adults How do older persons and their children's relationships vary?

Answer 28

- residential proximity - frequency of interactions - mutual aid - feelings of affection - beliefs regarding filial obligation

Question 29

Effects of Older Adults’ Normative Role Transitions on the Relationships with Their Children and Grandchildren What are the two primary normative transitions of older adults?

Answer 29

- retirement | - widowhood

Question 30

Effects of Parental Retirement What kind of support do older parents require from them children?

Answer 30

- minimal support in coping with retirement

Question 31

Effects of Parental Retirement Whom does retirement have no significant effects on?

Answer 31

relationships of older adults and their children and grandchildren with whom they continue to have frequent contact through visits, telephone calls, e-mail, and social media

Question 32

Effects of Parental Retirement What factors influence the degree to which parents interact with their adult children and grandchildren?

Answer 32

- geographic distance between parents and children - gender of retired parents - presence or absence of grandchildren

Question 33

Effects of Parental Retirement How does geographic distance between parents and children influence the degree to which retired parents interact with their adult children and grandchildren?

Answer 33

children living within 10 miles: - mothers’ retirement is associated with fewer visits - fathers’ retirement is associated with more visits children living more than 10 miles away: - mothers increase their visits - fathers decrease their visits

Question 34

Effects of Parental Retirement How does presence of absence of grandchildren influence the degree to which retired parents interact with their adult children and grandchildren?

Answer 34

- retired mothers are more likely to visit their children who have children living in the household - retired fathers are more likely to visit their childless children

Question 35

Parental Retirement – few changes in relationships between older parents and their children Parental Widowhood more changes in relationships between older parents and their children

Answer 35

-

Question 36

Parental Widowhood How does spousal loss change older adult-child relationship?

Answer 36

- increases older adults’ dependence on their children | - decreases their children’s dependence on the surviving parent

Question 37

Parental Widowhood What are the gender differences in dependence?

Answer 37

compared to widowers, widows rely more on their children for financial aid and/or financial and legal advice, yet provide more emotional and instrumental support

Question 38

Parental Widowhood What does instrumental support of adult children include?

Answer 38

variety of tangible supports such as child care, housekeeping, and transportation

Question 39

Parental Widowhood What are gender differences in dependence contingent on?

Answer 39

contingent on the older parents’ educational attainment - education decreases widows’ dependence on their children for financial aid and/or financial and legal advice - education increases widowers’ provision of emotional support to their children

Question 40

Parental Widowhood For whom does widowhood or dependency not result in a major life change?

Answer 40

grandparents in many ethnic groups that live with their adult children and grandchildren

Question 41

Parental Widowhood What is a consequence of older adults moving in with their children?

Answer 41

older parents are less likely to be a part of informal networks of friends, neighbours, and relatives

Question 42

Older Parents’ Adjustment to Their Children’s Transitions What are the two primary problems that middle-age adults encounter that tend to have a harmful effect on their relationships with their older parents?

Answer 42

- stressful life circumstances | - prolonged dependency

Question 43

Older Parents’ Adjustment to Their Children’s Transitions How do stressful life circumstances and prolonged dependency affect older parents?

Answer 43

- affects psychological adjustment - older parents of children who have mental or physical impairments, substance abuse, or stress-related problems experience more depression - morale of older parents suffers if their middle-age children’s problems necessitate their continuing to provide high levels of care and support

Question 44

Older Parents’ Adjustment to Their Children’s Transitions What is the Equity Theory?

Answer 44

suggests that individuals are the most satisfied with relationships in which they experience a comparatively equal exchange of resources, rather than being significantly over-benefited or under-benefited in their exchanges decline of psychological well-being of older parents with middle-age children who continue to lean on them for financial and other types of support can be explained by this theory

Question 45

Influence of Intergenerational Relationships on Older Person's Psychological Development What are three things that are interconnected with intergenerational relationships?

Answer 45

- identity of older persons - their ongoing striving toward generativity - development of a sense of integrity

Question 46

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity During old age, what do individuals re-examine?

Answer 46

re-examine their lives and make judgments regarding whether they have accomplished the things they had hoped for in their work and in their personal relationships

Question 47

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity What are the outcomes depending on how older adults interpret their lives (ie. positive vs. negative)?

Answer 47

if their interpretation of their lives is a positive one, they incorporate a sense of integrity if they look back with regrets, they develop a sense of despair

Question 48

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity What is the development of a sense of integrity or a sense of despair related to? Why?

Answer 48

related to whether or not their children have turned out as parents had hoped they would, because parent-child relations play such an integral role in the lives of individuals

Question 49

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity What is the attainment of a sense of integrity also linked to?

Answer 49

whether parents have been able to maintain satisfactory relations with their children over the years

Question 50

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity What do social networks of older men and women reflect?

Answer 50

greater striving toward generativity and ego integrity, both of which have been positively related to subjective well-being

Question 51

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity What do both older men and women evaluate their life histories in terms of?

Answer 51

ocial networks of which they have been a part,

Question 52

Older Adults’ Sense of Integrity How do older men and women compare when evaluating their life histories?

Answer 52

feeling as if they have had a social influence on others is more highly valued for older fathers and grandfathers social anchorage is seen as more important for older mothers and grandmothers

Question 53

Grandparenthood and Older Adults’ Psychological Development What are the 5 distinct dimensions of meaning that grandparenthood brings to the life review process?

Answer 53

- role centrality (grandparenthood as central to grandparents’ lives) - valued eldership (passing on traditions and being valued in that role) - immortality through clan (patriarchal or matriarchal responsibilities, identification with grandchildren, and family involvement) - re-involvement with personal past (grandparents reliving their own earlier lives and identifying with their own grandchildren) - indulgence (attitudes of lenience or indulgence toward grandchildren)

Question 54

Cultural Role of Grandparent Traditional Cultures (Collectivistic)

Answer 54

- value family interdependence - lives of grandparents are more integrated into daily lives of grandchildren - grandparents are expected to play a central role in upbringing of grandchildren

Question 55

Cultural Role of Grandparent Cultures Characterized by Large Extended Families and Reverence for Elders

Answer 55

- grandparents are likely to live with their adult children and grandchildren and be part of the social support system of the family

Question 56

Cultural Role of Grandparent European American vs. Ethnic Minority Cultures

Answer 56

European American grandparents are more likely to maintain close relationships with their grandchildren while living independently from the parent-child household

Question 57

Contributions of Grandparents

Answer 57

- support just by being there - presence in lives of their children and grandchildren represents symbols of longevity and continuity - having grandparents who are available increases feelings of security in younger generations - act as family historian - serve as mentors and role models to grandchildren - crisis managers in the family – ie. when divorce, death, or prolonged unemployment occur, older parents often provide substantial assistance to their children and grandchildren - assume the role of custodial parents when neither of their grandchildren’s parents is able to fulfill that responsibility

Question 58

Contributions of Grandparents What are the 5 big roles that grandparents might play in their grandchildren's lives (from the perspective of grandchildren)?

Answer 58

- historians who provide a sense of family history - mentors who impart knowledge and wisdom - role models who assist in the socialization of grandchildren - wizards who draw on their imaginations to entertain grandchildren - nurturers who become a vital part of grandchildren’s social support system

Question 59

Importance of Grandfathers

Answer 59

- challenging family situations often lead to grandfathers becoming more actively involved with their grandchildren - although most grandfathers tend to rely on traditional male discourse in describing their roles as grandfathers, some grandfathers transcend traditional expectations of remote relationships and construct more involved relationships with their grandchildren

Question 60

The Relationships of Older Adults and Their Children What is filial maturity?

Answer 60

concept which focuses on the relationships between adults and their parents - begins in early adulthood as young adults begin to perceive their parents as persons with histories that began before parenthood and as individuals who have roles in addition to their parental roles - also expressed in the relationships that adult children have with their older parents

Question 61

The Relationships of Older Adults and Their Children When do offspring report higher levels of filial maturity?

Answer 61

- with mothers and with parents with whom they reported greater relationship quality, closeness, and autonomy - older parents who described more satisfactory relationships with their children

Question 62

The Relationships of Older Adults and Their Children What do older persons and their children's relationships vary in?

Answer 62

- residential proximity - frequency of interaction - mutual aid - feelings of affection - beliefs regarding filial obligation

Question 63

Mutual Aid What is mutual aid?

Answer 63

consists of services such as child care and/or housework, information and advice, and money and gifts (flows in both directions and is multidimensional)

Question 64

Mutual Aid What is the stereotypical view of dependency in the older parent-child relationship? But why isn't this true?

Answer 64

older parents are dependent on their children older parents are actually primarily donors who provide substantial aid to their middle-age adult children

Question 65

Mutual Aid What impacts older parents' level of assistance?

Answer 65

- directly proportional to parents’ perceptions of their children’s level of need - disabled or mentally impaired adult children are cared for primarily by older parents - provide more assistance to their children whom they perceive as more successful

Question 66

Mutual Aid Why do older parents provide more assistance to their children whom they perceive as more successful?

Answer 66

might be to enhance the self or to ensure support later in life

Question 67

Degree of Closeness What are the two features that mark the intimacy between aging parents and their offspring?

Answer 67

- recognition of the other person as an individual with strengths and weaknesses - deep concern for the other party’s well-being

Question 68

Degree of Closeness Does increased closeness of aging parents and their offspring include a greater sharing of problems?

Answer 68

NO (unlike romantic relationships)

Question 69

Degree of Closeness As offspring pass through early and middle adulthood, each party realizes the other has different needs and limitations requiring a new kind of distance.

Answer 69

the type of mutual respect that marks the relationships of older parents and their adult children influences parents to cease trying to direct their children’s lives and influences children to seek to protect their parents from worry

Question 70

Age and Gender What important gender role do daughters fulfill that contributes to relationship quality across generations?

Answer 70

kinkeeper – mechanism for achievement of social anchorage that has been linked to the realization of a sense of generativity for women daughters are not only more likely to assume the role of kinkeeper in the family, but are also twice as likely as sons to become primary caregivers to their parents

Question 71

Care for Elderly Parents What is the filial role?

Answer 71

to take care of one’s parents, including showing love, respect, and support; displaying courtesy; and wisely advising one’s parents

Question 72

Care for Elderly Parents What are the stages that adult children progress through that parallel their parents' aging process?

Answer 72

1. concern for their parents’ health – not tied to indicators of the parents’ health status 2. urging – adult children see parents’ physical health worsening and attempting to influence their parents to take action to improve their health 3. action – adult children observe that their parents’ functional mobility, maintenance of daily activities, and everyday problem solving are deteriorating 4. take direct action to assist parents in dealing with health problems

Question 73

Care for Elderly Parents What is the action stage of filial role development related to?

Answer 73

later stages of various chronic conditions and symptoms conditions when the parent’s functional abilities are affected NOT related to the existence of such various conditions

Question 74

Care for Elderly Parents – Individualistic Parents

Answer 74

- expect to maintain their power base of autonomy and self-determination as long as they are healthy - if their health fails, however, they often experience a sudden and dramatic decline in their personal autonomy when their children intervene in order to ensure that their parents are receiving proper care - loss of parental power that coincides with children’s well-intended intervention frequently leads individualistic older parents to resist and resent children’s assistance

Question 75

Care for Elderly Parents – Collectivistic Parents Parents

Answer 75

- less likely to think that their adult children should mind their own business - children are usually permitted to participate in (and direct) the decisions of their aging parents, and their involvement in their parents’ affairs is less often a source of disagreement - but parents carefully refrain from interfering in the lives of their middle-age children - this arrangement reflects middle-age children’s greater power in these families - this also clarifies why children and grandchildren in collectivist families frequently describe their aging members as especially understanding and easy going

Question 76

Care for Elderly Parents – Challenges In the United States what are the choices of who the caregivers for elderly parents will be?

Answer 76

- first choice: no care - second: designate one child - third: siblings share responsibilities

Question 77

Care for Elderly Parents – Challenges How does age of child influence care?

Answer 77

older adult children are less likely to assume the caregiver role than younger adult children might reflect situations in which frailty or disability is more common among the oldest of the elderly population whose oldest children are likely to be elderly themselves

Question 78

Care for Elderly Parents – Challenges Are more educated parents more or less likely to have children in the role of caregiver?

Answer 78

less likely to have children in the role of caregiver because each year of parental education decreases the amount of long-term care provided by children this relationship between parental education and decreased care by children might reflect the link between education and income – more education = higher income = better able to provide for their own care (in-home, institution, retirement community)

Question 79

Care for Elderly Parents – Parents' Views and Expectations Mothers

Answer 79

emotional closeness and similarity of gender and attitudes were strongly associated with which children mothers identified as probable caregivers older mothers emphasized expressive characteristics of intergenerational relationships rather than contextual factors such as availability

Question 80

Care for Elderly Parents – Caregiver Stress and Adaptation In what ways does caregiving have the features of a chronic stress experience?

Answer 80

- generates physical and psychological strain over extended periods of time - associated with high levels of unpredictability and uncontrollability - has the capability to generate secondary stress in various life domains such as work and family relationships

Question 81

Care for Elderly Parents – Caregiver Stress and Adaptation What type of health effects do caregivers experience in the early stages of caregiving?

Answer 81

neither strain nor negative health effects

Question 82

Care for Elderly Parents – Caregiver Stress and Adaptation Do caregivers mention positive aspects of the caregiving experiencing?

Answer 82

yes – even when caregiving demands become more intense and contribute to high levels of distress and depression, many caregivers frequently mention positive aspects of the experience - helps them feel good about themselves - makes them feel needed - provides meaning to their lives - allows them to learn new skills - strengthens their relationships with others

Question 83

Care for Elderly Parents – Caregiver Stress and Adaptation What are some common ways in which caregivers are able to find meaning in their caregiver roles?

Answer 83

- gratification and satisfaction with the caregiver role - sense of family responsibility/reciprocity - the friendship and company that caregiving offered - commitment to doing what needs to be done

Question 84

Care for Elderly Parents – Caregiver Stress and Adaptation What are some less common ways in which caregivers are able to find meaning in their caregiver roles?

Answer 84

- having the ability to express a caring personality, experiencing personal growth - having an improved relationship with the elderly parent

Question 85

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living What type of care do family members provide when parent is in assisted living?

Answer 85

- visit frequently - provide wide range of instrumental assistance - provide minimal personal care

Question 86

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living Do family members report relatively high levels of satisfaction regarding the level of care provided for their family members in assisted living?

Answer 86

yes

Question 87

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living What changes occur to social role identities?

Answer 87

- some focus on family roles | - some focus on friendship roles

Question 88

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living What do changes in social roles during transition to assisted living indicate?

Answer 88

social role identities are not fixed, but are altered to accommodate changed life circumstances

Question 89

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living What affects the quality of care of older adults?

Answer 89

“social self” category of integrity

Question 90

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living What are two themes that are inherent in the social self?

Answer 90

- social exchange (negotiated exchanges with others) | - social interactions

Question 91

Care for Elderly Parents – Assisted Living How does increasing social interactions help improve the quality of care?

Answer 91

- offering more therapeutic social interactions, such as listening, talking, and storytelling - providing information from newspapers, radio, and television - communication with fellow patients and significant others these also help increase awareness of the social self

Question 92

Explain the influence of role transitions on the parent–child relationships of middle-age adults and their adult children.

Answer 92

- when adult children experience normative changes, such as going to college, beginning careers, getting married or having children, their relationships with their middle-age parents generally improve - non-normative transitions of adult children, such as prolonged unemployment and difficulties in relationships, tend to negatively affect their relationships with their middle-age parents - normative changes in middle-age parents’ lives tend to have a positive effect on their relationships with their children - most common normative transition of middle-age adults is becoming grandparents, which usually brings them closer to their children - non-normative transitions of divorce and remarriage of middle-age parents tend to negatively affect their relationships with their adult children

Question 93

Demonstrate an understanding of the ways in which the role transitions of older parents and their middle-age children influence their relationships with each other.

Answer 93

- two primary normative transitions of older adults are retirement and widowhood - support required by older parents from their children in coping with retirement is minimal and has no significant effects on their relationships with their children - transition of widowhood, however, results in alternations in intergenerational dependency, which triggers a renegotiation of parent-child roles - most evident change in roles results in daughters providing increasingly more care for parents - normative transitions in the lives of middle-age children, such as becoming grandparents, generally do not strain the relations between older parents and their children - non-normative transitions of middle-age children such as divorce and unemployment, however, tend to burden older parents and lead to problems in the parent-child relationship - older parents of children whose problems necessitate their parents’ continuing to provide high levels of care and support experience higher levels of depression

Question 94

Describe the impact of intergenerational relationships on older persons’ psychological development.

Answer 94

- relationships older persons have with their children and their grandchildren influence their identity, their continuing development of generativity, and their development of a sense of integrity - since parent-child relations play such a vital role in the life of older individuals, development of a sense of integrity or a sense of despair is related to whether or not their children have turned out as the parents had hoped they would - life course of older adults also continues to be linked to the lives of their children and grandchildren - participation in the role of grandparent contributes to the psychological development of older adults based on the inclusion of this experience in the older adult’s life review

Question 95

Identify the factors influencing the quality of parent–child relations of the able elderly and their adult children.

Answer 95

- geographical proximity is one to the factors influencing the quality of these relationships - majority of older adults have children who live less than 1 hour away, and there is a positive link between proximity of children and parental well-being - frequency and quality of interactions also affect the quality of the relationships of older parents and their children - mutual aid is another aspect of relationship quality, which consists of services such as child care and/or housework, information and advice, and money and gifts - degree of closeness or strength of feelings also reveals the quality of these relationships - acceptance of each other’s weaknesses and shortcomings allows adult children and their aging parents to achieve a closeness that was not available to them in their earlier relationship

Question 96

Show an understanding of the alterations that occur in the roles of adult children and their aging parents.

Answer 96

- as older parents advance in age, the relationships they have with their children undergo ongoing modification - adaptation of children to the needs of their aging parents is reflected in continued filial role development whereby adult children become increasingly aware of their parents’ failing health or diminished functional ability - if parents’ health or frailty leads to the necessity of assistance with daily living, adult children often intervene to be certain that their parents receive the care they need - in those families where children become caregivers of their parents, the characteristics of aging parents and of their children influence who takes on the role of caregiver - another option for providing care for elderly parents is assisted living – transition of a parent and/or grandparent into assisted living alters the roles and relationships within the families of these older adults