This qualitative study explores older parents' ambivalent perceptions of their relationships with their adult children. Interviews with 17 mothers and fathers (aged 67+) provided reports on 75 relationships (43 sons, 32 daughters). Two predominant sources of ambivalence emerged when parents discussed their current relationships. The first…

Used quantitative and qualitative data from 23 independent older adults to explore these salient aspects of their parenting role: change over time; current need for the role; current expectations of adult children; and rights and responsibilities of older parents. (Author/ABB)

Examined nature and extent of incongruent view of caregiving held by older persons and their caregivers and characteristics of caregivers and care receivers associated with the development of such views. Findings from 50 caregiving dyads support earlier studies reporting that discrepant views of caregiving relationship are common. (Author/NB)

Surveyed 120 adult children from maritally disrupted situations and 145 adult children in intact marriages about their own and siblings' help to parents. Adult children in maritally disrupted situations gave about the same amount of help as siblings, while those with intact marriages gave more help than siblings. (JAC)

Interviewed 174 care-receiving mothers and their caregiving daughters concerning contributions of care receivers. Majority of respondents perceived that daughters received aid from mothers in return for help given. Mothers who reported giving advice and money had better health whereas mothers who reported giving information were more dependent…

Compared pairs (n=174) of elderly mothers' and their caregiving daughters' perceptions of aid given to the mothers with actual caregiving activities. Results indicated nearly half of the mothers and daughters were accurate in their perceptions of aid given to the mothers; when mothers' perception of aid was inaccurate, mothers overestimated rather…

Results from 174 elderly dependent mothers and their caregiving daughters revealed that most believed daughters were caregiving primarily for discretionary rather than obligatory reasons. Women who felt their daughters' motives were not highly discretionary reported lower intimacy in their relationships and said they had received care for more…

Used data from 144 elderly parent-adult child pairs to examine family caregiving. Final multiple regression model accounted for 63.2 percent of variability in filial role enactment. One main effect, parental marital status, and two interaction effects, child's gender with parental health and adult child's affection toward parent with geographical…

Examined bereavement among 38 daughters who were caregivers to their elderly mothers. Comparing bereavement feelings at two months to feelings at 6 months following mother's death, daughters reported decreases in grief resolution behavior and feelings of emotional shock, anger, and helplessness. Comparison to elderly widows indicated similarities…

Asked 30 families who cared for family member with Alzheimer's disease to provide narratives of daily care over 18 months. Found that different family members experienced their relationship with Alzheimer's disease patient to be continuous, continuous but transformed, or radically discontinuous with their relationship prior to the disease.…

Utilizing data from 80 adult children-older parent dyads, this study examined the degree to which adult children could predict the psychosocial preferences of their older parents. Overall, children demonstrated good knowledge about parent preferences, although there was wide variability within the sample and across preference domains. Children…

Compared rural and urban older adults on exchanges of assistance and social activities with children and friends. Found that illness prompted more giving and receiving of assistance for rural in comparison to urban informal supports. Rural widows were more actively involved in exchanges of assistance with friend networks than were urban widows.…

Through interviews and observation, the impact of caring for an elderly parent or in-law on 30 women was studied. The study differentiated between care provision and care management. Social and behavioral precedents and consequences of the role were identified. Costs of caregiving were much greater for providers than managers. (Author/JAC)

Using a social exchange perspective and data from a national sample of 978 spouse and child caregivers of older family members, this study assessed the association between caregiver relationship and gender and the costs and rewards of caregiving. We also evaluated whether relationship and gender moderate the effects of helpfulness on caregiver…

Survey results indicated adult day care is a resource that families draw upon to help them cope with the care of an elderly disabled member. It enables them to better attend to the person's needs as well as their own and aids in improving family relationships. Gender effects are discussed. (Author/BL)