Being alone after late-life divorce: freedom and loneliness from an intergenerational familial/dyadic perspective.

Objectives: To examine in-depth experiences of loneliness and freedom after late-life divorce from an intergenerational familial/dyadic perspective in a family-oriented society that also values self-determination. Considering the expansion of late-life divorce, it is important to understand its consequences for the family wellbeing.

Method: According to phenomenology tradition, data was collected through 51 semi-structured qualitative interviews, comprised from 7 family units ( = 33) including all/most family members and 9 parent-child dyads ( = 18), using thematic-analysis and dyadic interview-analysis principles.

The partner in late-life repartnering: caregiving expectations from an intergenerational perspective.

Background: Late-life repartnering among functionally independent adults, resulting in complex stepfamilies, has emerged with increased life expectancy, and is likely to develop further. It is perceived as a chance for renewal and autonomy, enabling a release from dependency on offspring, whereas caregiving is associated with dependency and becoming a burden on family members. Thus, the experiences of late-life repartnering and caregiving are opposites.

Men's vulnerability--women's resilience: from widowhood to late-life repartnering.

Background: The ongoing increase in life expectancy resulting in people living longer after the death of a lifelong spouse along with the stresses of widowhood is likely to increase the phenomenon of repartnering in old age. The aim of this article is to learn about the attributed meanings of late-life repartnering among older repartnered widows and widowers dealing with widowhood.

Methods: The experiences of 27 couples (54 participants), in which both partners were widowed, were chosen from two larger studies on late-life repartnering: one took a dyadic perspective (interviewing both partners), and the other took an intergenerational approach (interviewing both partners and offspring).

"Not a replacement": emotional experiences and practical consequences of Israeli second couplehood stepfamilies constructed in old age.

The increase in life expectancy enhances phenomena such as second couplehood in old age following widowhood or divorce as an alternative way of coping with changes that occur with aging. Research on the phenomenon has focused mainly on individual and dyadic perspectives of the repartnered. The aim of this article was to explore repartnering from the stepfamily's perspective, which has scarcely been studied.

Together and apart: a typology of re-partnering in old age.

Background: The human need for love, friendship, and physical contact, and the fear of loneliness do not diminish with age. Widowhood and late-life divorce and increased life expectancy are likely to lead to alternative relationships, such as re-partnering. The purpose of this paper is to explore interplays between emotional and physical components of re-partnering in old age.

The social construction of social problems: the case of elder abuse and neglect.

The interaction and inter-penetrability overlap of abuse and neglect has been previously described. Therefore, the question is not whether a distinction can be made between the two, but how specific events are constructed into abuse and/or neglect based on how each of the protagonists involved (researchers, professional workers, family members, and the older persons themselves) make sense of abuse and neglect. The purpose of this paper is to explore the social and psychological construction of elder abuse and neglect and illustrate the theoretical constructs using case material and its application to the field.

Continuity and discontinuity: the case of second couplehood in old age.

Purpose: Continuity and discontinuity are controversial concepts in social theories on aging. The aim of this article is to explore these concepts using the experiences of older persons living in second couplehood in old age as a case in point.

Design And Method: Based on a larger qualitative study on second couplehood in old age, following the existential-phenomenological tradition, a theoretical sample of 20 couples was chosen.

Approaches to and outcomes of dyadic interview analysis.

Qualitative studies on dyads have increased over the last two decades. However, emphasis has been on their thematic content, and very few methodological advances have occurred for conducting this type of research. For instance, literature exists about ways to collect dyadic data, but not how to analyze it.