A Longitudinal Study of Generations and Mental Health

描述(由申请人提供)：这项研究考察了过去几十年来家庭团结和相互影响在过去几十年中的变化。它涉及的重要问题是，家庭团结和支持是否由于人口老龄化、离婚和再婚、女性劳动力参与率上升、工作和经济变化以及家庭义务规范可能减弱等宏观社会趋势而下降。 这项研究还考察了代际关系如何影响个体从成年早期到成年中期再到成年后期的生命过程中的幸福感。拟议的赠款将把世代纵向研究扩展到第八和第九波为期三年的数据收集。这将实现第一个完全详细的世代顺序设计，即比较处于相同人生阶段但处于不同历史时期的年迈父母和子女的组合，并允许调查三个具体目标：(1)社会变化对跨越35年和四代人的代际团结或冲突的影响；(2)社会变化对家庭缓冲压力生活转型的能力的影响；(3)社会变化对价值观、资源和行为代际传递的影响。 这些问题对卫生保健和社会政策具有重要影响：如果家庭功能下降，那么向老年人提供公共服务的负担可能会增加。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): 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.