ERIC Number: ED276926
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1986-Nov
Pages: 20
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Predicting Aged Parents' Evaluations of Children's Help.
Thomas, Jeanne L.; Settersten, Richard A.
Gerontologists recognize that the family provides critical practical and affective support to the aged. While researchers have explored the burden experienced by children assisting elderly parents, much less attention has been given to the related issue of aged parents' reactions to receiving help from adult children. A study was conducted to identify characteristics of elderly parents' families and of the parents themselves which predicted satisfaction and concern regarding help from adult children. Participants were 205 noninstitutionalized older adults who described family structure, help exchanged with each child, satisfaction and concerns regarding help received from children, and familiy solidarity. Parents who evaluated their health positively and who expressed high levels of proximity and kin orientation values expressed greatest satisfaction with children's help. Parents who expressed high levels of kin obligation and low levels of kin orientation values and who evaluated their health negatively expressed greatest concern regarding children's help. Since variables indexing children's role demands were not significant predictors of parents' evaluations, role conflict apparently did not preclude satisfactory helping. (Author/NB)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: National Inst. on Aging (DHHS/PHS), Bethesda, MD.
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A