Marital status, family ties, and self-rated health among elders in South India.

This article examines the impact of familial social support ties (indicated by marital status, kin availability, sources of economic support, and frequency and quality of emotional interaction) on subjective health perception among a sample of elderly men and women aged 60 and older in South India. We used 1993 survey data from three states of South India: Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka. We hypothesized that (a) widowhood would be associated with poorer self-rated health, (b) number of kin ties would be positively associated with self-rated health, (c) economic and emotional support from kin would improve outcomes, and (d) these associations would be stronger among women than among men.

Self and health: factors that encourage self-esteem and functional health.

Objective: We are interested in whether functional health enhances self-esteem, as well as whether self-esteem, worker, parent, and friend identities are related to changes in functional health over a 2-year period of study.

Methods: Data were collected in 1992 and 1994 from 737 older workers living in a North Carolina metropolitan area. Functional health is derived from questions asking respondents about their difficulties performing seven activities.

The transition to retirement: stages and factors that influence retirement adjustment.

A set of older workers from the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina metropolitan area were followed from pre-retirement to 24 months post-retirement in order to explore stages in retirement and the impact of social psychological, social background, and gender factors on the retirement adjustment. First, we found general support for Atchley's model of retirement adjustment (1976). Second, the factors that influence retirement adjustment in the data analysis revealed that: 1) pre-retirement self-esteem and friend identity meanings, as well as pension eligibility, increased positive attitudes toward retirement at six months, 12 months, and 24 months post-retirement; 2) retirement planning and voluntary retirement increased positive attitudes toward retirement earlier, but not later, in the first two years of retirement; 3) poor health decreased positive attitudes toward retirement later rather than earlier in the first two years of retirement; and 4) there were only limited gender effects.

Ethnic minority older adults participating in clinical research: developing trust.

Objective: African American, Latino, and American Indian older adults are underrepresented in clinical research studies. A significant barrier to participation in research is mistrust of the scientific community and institutions. The aims of this article are to discuss the lack of representation of ethnic minorities in clinical research.

Grandparenthood: factors influencing frequency of grandparent-grandchildren contact and grandparent role satisfaction.

Objectives: Symbolic interaction theory suggests that self processes motivate individual behaviors and responses to roles. In this study, we explore the influence of self processes on grandparenthood.

Methods: Data were collected in 1997 from 203 middle-aged grandmothers and grandfathers living in the Raleigh-Durham-Chapel Hill, North Carolina, metropolitan area.

Recruitment of older African Americans for survey research: a process evaluation of the community and church-based strategy in The Durham Elders Project.

Purpose: The disproportionately high burden of morbidity and mortality among older African Americans is due, in part, to a lack of understanding of the factors contributing to these outcomes. In order to more fully understand the factors that contribute to African American morbidity and mortality, researchers must identify strategies for increasing the inclusion of older African Americans in research on social and health phenomena.

Design And Methods: This article is a process evaluation describing the successes and challenges associated with recruitment of older African Americans into research.

Measurement adequacy of the CES-D among a sample of older African-Americans.

This manuscript examines the measurement adequacy of the CES-D when applied in older African-Americans (n=227). The response distribution was skewed towards less symptomatology on all items, and the internal consistency of the CES-D was acceptable (alpha=0.86).

Self-gain and self-loss among African American and white caregivers.

Objectives: This study compared the effects of a traditional ideology of care and role conflict on the intrinsic rewards (self-gain) and consequences (self-loss) of caregiving among African Americans and Whites.

Methods: Using a cross-sectional telephone survey of caregivers in North Carolina (n = 481), the authors performed a structural equation groups analysis to assess the equality of an a priori caregiving model for African Americans (n = 257) and Whites (n = 224).

Results: Despite a stronger preference for family care among African Americans, traditional caregiving ideology was associated with more self-gain among Whites only; there was no relationship between preference for family care and self-loss for either group.