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Background. We examined within-family variation in siblings' memories of experiences with parents and their associations with current positive and negative affect. Methods. Participants were 1,369 adults with at least 1 sibling, aged 26-74 years from 498 families in the MacArthur Study of Midlife in the United States (Mage = 47 years, 59% women, 94% White). Results. There was considerable variability in recalled maternal and paternal treatment across the dimensions of affection (intraclass correlation coefficients [ICCs] 0.33 and 0.41, respectively), discipline (ICCs 0.39 and 0.43), and conflict (ICCs 0.24 and 0.26). In turn, recalled parental treatment, particularly affection, made unique contributions to current positive (ICC 0.12) and negative affect (ICC 0.08) over and above individual and familial level characteristics such as offspring demographic characteristics, extraversion and neuroticism, family structure, recalled early family environment, and parents' current status. Conclusions. Results link adults' memories of experiences with their parents in childhood to their current well-being and highlight the importance of considering within-family models for family theory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. The present study examined the association of providing assistance to older parents amid everyday circumstances and short-term psychological consequences for adult children providing assistance. Methods. We explored this association using 824 daily diary interviews of 119 adult children providing assistance in the National Study of Daily Experiences by using a left-censored random effects tobit regression model that accounted for the clustered data and floor effects in reported psychological distress. Results. Psychological distress was higher on days adult children provided assistance to their parent (b = 0.88, p < .05) even after we controlled for situational variables such as time spent on daily paid work, time spent on leisure activities, and assistance provided to individuals other than parents. Demographic and psychosocial variables such as having resident children (b = 2.14, p < .01), less education (b =-0.54, p < .05), and neuroticism (b = 2.08, p < .05), also predicted daily psychological distress. Discussion. Even after we controlled for within-person (daily situational variables) and between-person factors (background characteristics), the act of providing assistance itself had immediate associations with daily mood for helpers, particularly for those with fewer resources and greater demands on time. Feasibility and success of programs that provide respite and relief services to older adults and their children should be assessed in light of daily living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives. Our objective in this study was to compare assistance received by individuals in the United States and Sweden with characteristics associated with low, moderate, or high l-year placement risk in the United States. Methods. We used longitudinal nationally representative data from 4,579 participants aged 75 years and older in the 1992 and 1993 waves of the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and cross-sectional data from 1,379 individuals aged 75 years and older in the Swedish Aging at Home (AH) national survey for comparative purposes. We developed a logistic regression equation using U.S. data to identify individuals with 3 levels (low, moderate, or high) of predicted 1-year institutional placement risk. Groups with the same characteristics were identified in the Swedish sample and compared on formal and informal assistance received. Results. Formal service utilization was higher in Swedish sample, whereas informal service use is lower overall. Individuals with characteristics associated with high placement risk received more formal and less informal assistance in Sweden relative to the United States. Discussion. Differences suggest formal services supplement informal support in the United States and that formal and informal services are complementary in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of type of retirement (forced, early, abrupt) and spouse's disability on longitudinal change in depressive symptoms. Methods: The analyses rely on Waves 1-4 of the Health and Retirement Survey (N = 2,649). Generalized estimating equations models with bootstrapped standard errors and adjustment for survey design and non-independence of dyad members estimate effects of retirement, type of retirement, and spouse's disability on depressive symptoms, controlling for relevant covariates. Results: The results suggest that depressive symptoms increase when retirement is abrupt and perceived as too early or forced. Women retirees who stopped employment and were either forced into retirement or perceived their retirement as too early report significantly more depressive symptoms with increasing spouse activities of daily living (ADLs) limitations. There is no similar effect for men. In contrast, for working retirees who retired on time, depressive symptoms decrease with increasing spouse ADLs. Discussion: These results highlight the importance of retirement context on postretirement well-being. They suggest that both type of retirement transition and marital contexts such as spouse's disability influence postretirement well-being, and these effects differ by gender. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Depressive symptoms have been represented in the research and clinical literature in terms of both an episodic phenomenon and as enduring individual differences. We investigated depressive symptoms longitudinally in a sample of older adults. Participants were 737 individuals (MAge = 73 years initially, 39% women) in the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging who provided biennial Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression data on up to five occasions over an 8-year period. We found both trait and state-residual variability, with symptoms increasing longitudinally on all subscales and accounting for an approximately 1-point increase per decade. Trait-like variability accounted for at least two thirds of the reliable variance. Interindividual differences were consistent over time, but occasion-specific variability diminished across occasions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With hypotheses derived from a life course perspective in conjunction with life event stress and role theories, we examine whether a spouse's employment and length of retirement affect a person's postretirement depressive symptoms and whether such effects differ by gender. Analyses use pooled data from Waves 1-4 of the Health and Retirement Survey, using a subsample of married individuals who either remained continuously employed over time or completely retired since the Wave 1 interviews (N = 2,695). Recently retired men seem to be negatively affected by their spouses' continuous employment when compared with men whose wives were continuously not employed. In contrast, spouses' joint retirement has a beneficial influence on both recently retired and longer- retired men. However, for recently retired men, the positive effect of wives' retirement seems to be contingent on spouses' enjoyment of joint activities. Among women, effects of spouses' employment occur only among very recently retired wives (0-6 months). These wives report more depressive symptoms if their spouses were already nonemployed prior to wives' retirement. These results demonstrate the complexity of retirement adaptation processes and suggest that marital context plays an important role in retirement well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the influence of economic and care obligations for family and relative salience on retirement decisions. Obligations impeding the likelihood of retirement; Importance of family obligations and relationships in retirement decisions; Diversity of retirement processes among various population groups.