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Guided by life course and stress process theory, this study investigated pathways of adult child caregivers' family (caregiving, marital, parenting) and nonfamily (employment) roles. Eight waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study were analyzed for 1,300 adult child caregivers. Latent class analysis provided strong evidence for a 4-class model of caregivers' role pathways. The four pathways were (a) Not-Married, Early-Transition to Not-Working Caregivers (34%), (b) Married, Not-Working Caregivers (26%), (c) Married, Late-Transition to Not-Working Caregivers (23%), and (d) Married, Not-Working Caregivers with Coresiding Child (17%). Caregivers' background characteristics and contexts predicted pathway membership. Adult child caregivers have structurally diverse life pathways that have implications for theory, research, and practice. (Contains 4 tables, 1 figure, and 1 note.)

Guided by stress process and life course theory, the purpose of this study was to examine adult child caregivers’ psychological and physical health trajectories and how their multiple family (caregiving, marital, and parenting) and nonfamily (employment) roles contributed to these health outcomes over time. Seven waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study were analyzed for 1,300 adult child caregivers using latent growth curve models. Adult child caregivers have distinct psychological and physical health trajectories that are related to their roles over time. The importance of any given role varies by the type of health outcome and timing in the life course. Caregiving alone does not contribute to adult child caregivers’ psychological and physical health; marital and employment roles also contribute significantly to caregivers’ life courses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Guided by decision-making in families theory, the current study investigated the role of spousal decision-making processes on purchasing long-term care insurance (LTCI) behavior using a sample of married women (N = 292) and men (N = 277) who were not married to each other. Spousal consensus regarding LTCI as a solution to the risk of long-term care (LTC) and spousal consensus regarding affordability of LTCI premiums had a significant, positive relationship with women's probability of purchasing LTCI. Spousal influence, as well as spousal consensus regarding LTC as a risk and LTCI as a solution to this risk, had a significant, positive relationship with men's probability of purchasing LTCI. Findings indicate that spousal decision-making processes, especially consensus, play an integral role in LTCI decision outcomes, but in different ways depending on gender. Financial professionals and educators can build more meaningful decision-making strategies by recognizing and addressing differences in consensus and influence processes when working with married women and men. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]