Aging Together: Relationship Dynamics Between the Very Old and Their Old Children

项目摘要 目前预期寿命的增加引发了一种新的现象，但很少有人注意到这一现象 日期：家庭成员共同步入高龄。由于高龄老人大多比配偶和朋友长寿， 他们的孩子很可能成为主要的联系人。然而，人们几乎对此一无所知 关系星座的非常年长的成年人和他们的“老”子女。以前的研究对以下方面的洞察力有限 晚年的社会关系，包括是否以及如果是的话，哪些双向支持的问题 父母和孩子之间的交流仍有可能发生，可能会出现哪些特殊的挑战 这种不断增长但未被充分研究的关系情景。我们的主要目标是探索大自然和 非常古老的亲子关系的后果，并提供对特定人/对偶的洞察 这些特征可能与较差的幸福感和护理相关结果的风险较大相关 双子星。我们的中心假设是，非常古老的亲子关系是由两种回报组成的 和挑战，但鉴于老年人和老年人与年龄相关的健康限制，这些挑战占主导地位 “老”孩子和长时间的发展“休息时间”损害了随之而来的自由和目标追求。 与孩子在那个年龄的照顾有关。 具体目标：1)确定发生在高龄亲子之间的互惠支持交换模式 二元体，以及确定与这些模式相关的人和背景因素。2)检查 支持交换对双方成员所经历的挑战和回报的影响 作为主持人的环境障碍、文化价值观和个性特征。3)检查以下项目的效果 支持就双方成员的福祉和护理相关成果进行交流，由他们的 感知到的挑战和回报。为了达到这些目标，半结构化的面谈将是 对120个非常年长的父母和孩子进行了调查(父母95岁；孩子65岁)。混合法的分析 数据将涉及定性(主题编码)和定量(多变量；行为者-伙伴相互依存 模型)方法论。 这项研究的创新之处在于研究了一个未被研究的人群中的一个新现象。学习 研究结果将为我们的干预发展的长期目标提供丰富的线索，使我们 识别我们的目标DYAD的独特挑战，并帮助我们阐明具体的人和DYAD 特征可能会影响支持交换/结果，并塑造二人组的护理和支持需求。 这一知识库将使我们能够设计或调整干预措施，而不仅仅是针对我们的目标群体 整体但也适用于特定类型的二元体(例如，基于性别组成、族裔/种族群体、特定 挑战或未得到满足的护理需求)。

Project Summary Current increase in life expectancy gives rise to a new phenomenon that has received little attention to date: family members reaching very old age together. Since very old adults mostly outlive spouses and friends, their children are likely to become the primary contact person. Yet, virtually nothing is known about the relationship constellation of very old adults and their “old” children. Prior research has yielded limited insight on social relationships in very late life, including the question whether or not, and if so, which bidirectional support exchanges between parents and children may still take place and what particular challenges might emerge in this growing but understudied relationship scenario. Our primary objective is to explore the nature and consequences of the very old parent-child relationship, and to offer insight into person/dyad-specific characteristics that may be associated with greater risk for poor well-being and care-related outcomes in these dyads. Our central hypothesis is that the very old parent-child relationship is characterized by both rewards and challenges, but that challenges dominate, given the age-related health limitations of both the very old and the “old” child, and the prolonged developmentally “off-time” compromised freedom and goal pursuit that come with the child’s caregiving involvement at that age. Specific aims: 1) To identify the patterns of reciprocal support exchanges occurring in very old parent-child dyads, as well as to ascertain person and context factors associated with these patterns. 2) To examine the effect of support exchanges on the challenges and rewards experienced by both dyad members, accounting for environmental barriers, cultural values, and personality traits as moderators. 3) To examine the effects of support exchanges on the well-being and care-related outcomes of both dyad members, mediated by their perceived challenges and rewards. To address these aims, semi-structured in-person interviews will be conducted with 120 very old parent-old child dyads (parent > 95; child > 65 years). Analysis of mixed-method data will involve qualitative (thematic coding) and quantitative (multivariate; actor-partner interdependence models) methodology. The innovation of this research lies in studying a new phenomenon in an understudied population. Study findings will provide us with a rich array of cues for our long-term goal of intervention development, allowing us to identify the unique challenges of our target dyads, and helping us to spell out how specific person and dyad characteristics may influence support exchanges/outcomes, and shape the dyads’ care and support needs. This knowledge base will enable us to design or adapt interventions not only tailored to our target group as a whole but also to specific types of dyads (e.g., based on gender composition, ethnic/racial group, particular challenges, or unmet care needs).