Research on Aging: An International Bimonthly Journal

Ducharme, Francine; Lévesque, Louise; Lachance, Lise; Gangbè, Marcellin; Zarit, Steven H.; Vézina, Jean; Caron, Chantal D.

doi: 10.1177/0164027506291749pmid: N/A

The purpose of this study, based on Pearlin et al.'s model, was to determine the factors associated with the health of older husband caregivers and with their intention to end home caregiving for their wives. The results showed subjective stressors to be associated with outcomes. Role overload was linked to psychological distress and to lower self-perceived health, whereas role captivity was associated with psychological distress and the intention to end home caregiving. The likelihood of ceasing home caregiving increased when caregivers reported high relational deprivation. A high percentage of the variance in psychological distress was explained (51%). The quality of prior husband-wife relationships, the frequency of disruptive behaviors, family conflicts, and self-efficacy were associated with this variable. Selfefficacy had a mediating effect between subjective stressors and psychological distress, whereas the number of services received had a moderating effect on the intention to end home caregiving among husbands with high role captivity. This study provides avenues for interventions sensitive to male caregivers.

Suitor, J. Jill; Pillemer, Karl

doi: 10.1177/0164027506291750pmid: N/A

The authors used data on 426 older mothers' relationships with their 1,823 adult children to explore the relationship between birth order and parental favoritism. The findings demonstrate that birth order continues to play an important role in explaining favoritism when families enter later stages of the life course. Last-born adult children were most likely to be named as those to whom their mothers were most emotionally close; firstborn children were most likely to be chosen as those to whom mothers would turn when facing personal problems or crises. Further analyses revealed that these patterns remained largely unaffected by family size, race, and child spacing. Middleborn children were substantially underrepresented in mothers' choices; such a pattern is particularly striking considering that the number of middle-born children far exceeded that of firstborn and last-born children in the sample.

Lee, Gary R.; DeMaris, Alfred

doi: 10.1177/0164027506294098pmid: N/A

Many cross-sectional studies have found that widowhood is psychologically a more difficult experience for men than for women. However, most longitudinal studies have found either no gender difference or a slightly greater effect for women. The authors attempted to resolve this paradox with data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households. They found that men whose wives died between the two waves were already highly depressed at time 1, compared with men whose wives survived until time 2. There was no such anticipatory effect for women. Attempts to explain men's elevated depression before widowhood, with predictors involving wife's health, caregiving, and marital quality at time 1, were largely unsuccessful. However, the authors suggest that longitudinal studies that examine change in depression after widowhood may miss the increase in depression for men that appears to occur before their wives' deaths.

Alley, Dawn; Suthers, Kristen; Crimmins, Eileen

doi: 10.1177/0164027506294245pmid: 19830260

Although education is consistently related to better cognitive performance, findings on the relationship between education and age-associated cognitive change have been conflicting. Using measures of multiple cognitive domains from four waves of the Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old study, a representative sample of Americans aged 70 years and older, the authors performed growth curve modeling to examine the relationships between education, initial cognitive score, and the rate of decline in cognitive function. More years of education were linked to better initial performance on each of the cognitive tests, and higher levels of education were linked to slower decline in mental status. However, more education was unrelated to the rate of decline in working memory, and education was associated with somewhat faster cognitive decline on measures of verbal memory. These findings highlight the role of early-life experiences not only in long-term cognitive performance but also in old-age cognitive trajectories.