ICPR Abstracts: Session 15

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Session 15: Papers

Well-Being in the Elderly

15.1
The Implications of Childlessness For Late Life 
Outcomes

Pearl A. Dykstra
Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute 

It is often suggested that (future) childless elderly are a 
group at risk, that is, at risk of being without the necessary 
sources of support to help them maintain their 
independence. Doubts about this often heard suggestion 
formed the starting point of the present study, which is 
part of a larger international comparative project 
investigating childlessness in late life. 
        The central question addressed in this paper is: 
when does childlessness matter, and how? Childlessness is 
examined in relation to other life domains. More 
specifically, the implications for late life outcomes of a 
person's marital history, parental history, and occupational 
career are examined. Not only are several life course 
trajectories taken into consideration, but also a set of late 
life outcomes simultaneously: social capital, financial 
capital, and general well-being.
        The data are from the NESTOR "Living 
arrangements and social networks of older adults" research 
program. In 1992 interviews were conducted with over 
4400 Dutch men and women between the ages of 55 and 
89. 622 respondents never had children, while 48 have 
outlived their offspring.
        The results indicate that the consequences of 
childlessness are not necessarily uniform across all life 
domains: in some domains childlessness can have 
particular advantages, in others it can have disadvantages. 
For example, though the absence of children is associated 
with lower levels of well- being, it is associated with 
higher income levels. The results indicate furthermore that 
childlessness is more consequential for women than for 
men, and particularly consequential for married women.

15.2
Interactions with Friends and Family:
Well-Being in the Elderly

Laura R. Green and Deborah R. Richardson, 
Florida Atlantic University
John Nezlek, College of William and Mary

Senior citizens completed measures of well-being and 
maintained an interaction diary (Wheeler & Nezlek, 1977) 
in which they recorded their relationship to the people 
they were interacting with and their affective evaluations 
of the interaction. Subjects rated interactions with friends 
or family members present higher on all affective 
dimensions (enjoyableness, intimacy, self-assuredness, 
influence and responsiveness) than interactions without 
friends or family members present. More satisfying 
relationships were those that were likely to include friends 
or family members. Among individuals low in 
psychological well-being, having friends or family 
members present was especially  likely to influence 
evaluations of the intimacy of the interaction and feelings 
of self-assuredness during the interaction. 

15.3
Stress, Social Support, and Depression 
Among the Elderly

Kimberly A. Tyler
Iowa State University

This study examines the effects of social support and 
negative life events on depressive symptoms among 722 
elderly divided into two age groups:  55 to 69 years of age 
and 70 years of age and over. Level of depression and 
social support at Time 1 (1992) are compared with 
depression at Time 2 (1993) shortly after subjects had 
been exposed to the Midwest flooding. Multiple 
regression analysis revealed significant differences in the 
level of depression for the two age groups as well as 
differences in the variables predicting current level of 
depression. 

15.4
Toward a Biopsychosocial Understanding of the 
Association Between Social Network Participation, 
Psychological Well-Being, and Longevity

Heidi S. Skolnik, Tonya Schuster, and Karen S. Rook
University of California at Irvine

Data from a sample of residents of Riverside, California 
will be used to test whether the empirically-derived 
association between social network participation and 
longevity can be explained by an increase in psychological 
well-being that accompanies network participation.  This 
mediational model infers that those network ties that do 
not contribute to psychological well- being will not predict 
longevity. In 1977, 723 people were interviewed; by 1984, 
179 of those were known to have died, and 353 were re-
interviewed. The analysis will focus on comparisons of 
longevity based on levels of social network participation 
and psychological well-being.  It will also investigate 
gender differences and the relevance of distinguishing 
between kin and non-kin social contact. 

15.5
Correlates of and Changes in Marital Closeness 
in Older Couples

Roni Beth Tower and Stanislav V. Kasl
Yale School of Medicine

Using independent reports from older spouses (N=317 
couples) who participated in the Established Populations 
for Epidemiologic Study of the Elderly (EPESE), we 
examine ways in which marital closeness and its absence 
is associated with sociodemographic background, leisure 
and social activities, the division of household tasks, 
attitudes and beliefs about religion and coherence in life, 
self- rated health, health habits, cognitive impairment and 
disability. We also investigate changes in closeness over a 
three year period and the association of the changes to 
both important life events and changes in the health status 
of both respondent and spouse.