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Hispanics will constitute a growing part of the older population well into the 21st century. Accompanying this growth, we can expect that challenges associated with a large bilingual and non-English speaking older population may become more pronounced. The purpose of this research was to examine the level and determinants of English proficiency among older Hispanics in the United States. Data from the 1990 Census indicate that a third of the older Hispanic population in the United States speaks English poorly or not at all. This group includes a sizable number who are 'linguistically isolated' in that they either live alone or with other nonproficient speakers of English. Using multivariate logistic regression techniques, it is shown that immigrant status and timing, socioeconomic status, geographic concentration, and national origin are key determinants of English proficiency. Key Words: Ethnicity, Linguistic isolation, Linguistic diversity

This article focuses on the growing concern surrounding the "graying of America" in such areas as health and public welfare as only limited attention has been directed to household structure among the elderly. In particular, racial and ethnic differentials in these arrangements have been examined on a very limited basis. in this analysis we contrast the patterns of household structure for the elderly of three Hispanic-origin groups with those of white and black non-Hispanics. It is demonstrated that even net of age, sex, marital status, and income, race/ethnicity is a powerful independent determinant of household structure among the elderly. It was concluded that the "ideal" of the independent nuclear household is not attained by most elderly members of black and Hispanic groups in the U.S. today. Primarily as a result of changing fertility and mortality conditions in the United States, older individuals have come to comprise an increasingly large portion of the total population. More than 26 million persons over age 65 were enumerated in the most recent census representing 11.3 percent of the entire population in 1980.

The extent to which minority group members live in nuclear family households may be mediated by factors other than choice. Using data from the 1970 Census, we test the relationship between certain aspects of housing constraint/availability and household complexity for the black and Spanish-origin populations in SMSAs in the United States. In particular, we examine the effects of residential segregation, income, new housing, and housing vacancy on a measure of the tendency for adults to live in households in which they are nonnuclear members while controlling for other relevant variables. The results support our hypotheses for both the black and Spanish-origin groups, suggesting that factors determining the availability of housing do have implications for the household structure of these populations. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Intergenerational tutoring programs can leverage technology to address the instructional needs of students. This study describes a novel online intergenerational tutoring program designed to target kindergarten students’ literacy skills. Older adult volunteers delivered evidence-based instructional strategies via Zoom. The study used a two-group, quasi-experimental design with students assigned to an intervention (n = 23) or waitlist control (n = 18) group. Five early literacy fluency skills were measured (letter naming, letter sound, phoneme segmentation, nonsense word, and real word). Tutors implemented the program with high fidelity. At posttest, the intervention group scored higher than the control group on each of the five skills and the group differences were statistically significant with a medium effect size for letter sound fluency and nonsense word fluency. Both tutors and parents reported high program acceptability. This study demonstrated how older adults can use online technology to disseminate evidence-based instructional interventions to children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined whether social contact, social participation, and social support during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with depression and anxiety. Data were taken from the 2020 COVID-19 Supplement of the National Health and Aging Trends Study (N = 2,778). Depression and anxiety were regressed on social contact frequency, social participation, and social support. Path analyses were also performed. The results showed that in-person contact was related to lower levels of depression, while in-person contact and attending religious services were related to lower levels of anxiety. Giving and receiving support were associated with higher levels of depression and anxiety. Giving support mediated the link between virtual contact, volunteering, and depression, while receiving support mediated the link between virtual contact and depression. Receiving and giving support mediated the association between virtual social contact, volunteering, and anxiety. During the pandemic, being socially connected provided some benefits in terms of emotional well-being, but in some cases being socially connected did not provide salubrious effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the public health concerns of social isolation and loneliness for older people who are vulnerable due to their health conditions and more restrictive social measures. However studies revealed that many older adults demonstrated high resilience and remained emotionally stable during the pandemic, particularly those who had a broad engagement with online technology that could compensate for their isolation. Yet, little empirical research has examined explicitly the association between online engagement and loneliness among older adults, and the role resilience played in this relationship during the pandemic. This study contributed to the literature by addressing these research gaps. This study investigated the relationships between online engagement (sum of involvement in 31 online activities), resilience (sum of positive experiences and personal growth during COVID-19) and loneliness (mean of 11-items from the revised version of the UCLA loneliness scale) among community-dwelling older people (aged 60+), using national survey data from the 2020 Health and Retirement Study (HRS) collected during the COVID-19 pandemic (N = 3,552). Online engagement was negatively associated with levels of loneliness (β = -0.080, 95% CI [-0.118, -0.047]), and this association was partially mediated by levels of resilience (β = -0.023, 95% CI [-0.031, -0.016]. The findings suggested that a broad integration of online technology into daily-life may have helped older people combat loneliness during the pandemic, and resilience could be one important mechanism that linked this association. • Broader online engagement is linked to lower levels of loneliness for older adults. • Resilience partially mediates the link between online engagement and loneliness. • Online engagement promotes resilience for older people in the pandemic. • Increased resilience is related to lower levels of loneliness among older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current explanations of elderly household composition focus largely upon individual demographic, economic, and health characteristics and frequently ignore the effects of the community context within which elderly persons live. In this study, we incorporate the community context into an aggregate explanation of intermetropolitan variation in rates of living alone among elderly persons. We contend that three crucial community resources influence the rate of living alone: demographic and normative environment, economic affordability, and community social services. Data for Metropolitan Statistical Areas in the United States in 1980 provide initial support for this community-level explanation of elderly household composition. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The purpose of this descriptive study was to explore factors associated with perceptions of grandparent responsibility for grandchildren in three-generation households, focusing especially on a comparison of grandparents' and parents' financial contributions to the household and ethnicity of grandparent(s). The analysis used information about three-generation families in the 2011-2015 American Community Survey, retrieved through the Integrated Public Use Microdata Series. In 30% of these families, grandparents said they were "primarily responsible" for the grandchildren, even though the child's parent was also in the household. Logistic regression models showed that grandparents who contributed a larger share of household income and grandparents who were householders were significantly more likely to report being primarily responsible for grandchildren in three-generation households, suggesting that the distribution of financial resources (or resource balance) within the household was associated with perceptions of responsibility. However, grandparents' race and ethnicity moderated this association, indicating that cultural norms may intersect with resources in shaping these reports. The findings suggest that perceived responsibilities of grandparents in three-generation households may be shaped by the balance of financial resources among household members, but also by cultural norms of grandparenting., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest., (© The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2022.)

Objective: This study examined the relationship between volunteer activity and hypertension, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, renal failure, and cognitive impairment., Method: Employing data from the Health and Retirement Study, we estimated regression models of hypertension status that include volunteer activity and psychosocial and health behavior risk factors for middle-aged and older persons., Results: Multivariate analyses showed volunteers had lower hypertension risk and lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure than nonvolunteers and that a threshold effect was present, whereby a modest amount of volunteer time commitment (but not a high amount) was associated with lower risk of hypertension. We did neither find support that psychosocial and health behaviors mediated this relationship nor find support for a moderating effect of volunteering for the relationships among health behaviors and hypertension., Discussion: The results of this study indicate that research is needed to determine what mediates the relationship between volunteering and hypertension.