The International Journal of Aging and Human Development

Interviews were conducted with elderly residents of an area targeted for massive redevelopment. Social support was considered simultaneously with health and personal control beliefs in relation to well-being, and the unresolved issue of the sufficiency of one support figure was explored. Health, control, and support each emerged as independent predictors of affect and life satisfaction, and affect was significantly lower for those with no close support figure than for those with one close relationship. The results suggest that one close support figure may be sufficient to promote well-being, but alternative interpretations are possible.

The role of grandparents in infancy was examined in a comparative analysis of grandparent-infant grandchild and parent-infant interaction patterns. A second focus of the study was an exploration of the extent to which grandparents function as social support agents for their adult children and infant grandchildren. Grandparents (30 grandmothers and 21 grandfathers) and parents (30 mothers and 30 fathers) of seven-month-old infants were observed in individual five-minute dyadic play sessions with the infant in the parents' homes, yielding twenty minutes of agent-infant interaction. The observations were scored using both time-sampling and global coding schemes. Information on grandparental support to the young parents and infants, relative to other social support sources, were also obtained from grandparents and parents. Results indicated that both grandmothers and grandfathers are active interactive and support agents, with a pattern of similarities and differences in interactive style across generation and gender. Although there was a high degree of overlap in parent and grandparent interaction styles, parents were rated as more competent. Gender consistencies were found between female agents (mothers and grandmothers) and male agents (fathers and grandfathers). High levels of intergenerational contact were reported, with both parents and grandparents highly satisfied with the contact. The results of this study support an expanded view of the effects of various agents in young children's social environment.

A previous study by the author supported the recently popular idea that live pet-visits increase desirable behaviors in nursing home residents such as smiling and alertness, but it also suggested that people-visits may be even more effective. The purpose of the present study was therefore to compare the effects of different visiting programs (people-alone, people-plus-pets, pets-alone and no visit) on the behaviors of nursing home residents (proximity, talking, smiling, ambulation, alertness).

All three visiting programs of people-alone, people-plus-pets, and pets-alone increased the behaviors of smiling and alertness in comparison to control conditions in the nursing home lounge. Close proximity to the person-alone visitor was, however, associated with the greatest number of positive resident behaviors. Future research is suggested to examine the characteristics that make effective pet and person visitors for nursing home residents.

The relative contributions of objective integration, subjective integration, and total leisure activity to the life satisfaction of older adults are examined. A random sample of 400 persons ages forty through eighty-nine residing in a demographically typical midwestern city were interviewed by phone. Results show that Objective Integration does not contribute incrementally to Life Satisfaction except among males under age sixty-five. Subjective Integration, on the other hand, contributes significantly to Life Satisfaction of males and females under and over age sixty-five. Even when demographic variables, Objective Integration, and Subjective Integration are taken into account statistically, Total Leisure Activity contributes significantly to Life Satisfaction in all groups examined.

A sample of elderly parents in the state of Florida was contrasted with a national sample of parents in their childbearing years with respect to the satisfactions and dissatisfactions of having children. For both groups, children were most commonly seen as satisfying the needs for love and companionship and fun and stimulation. The Older group was more likely than the younger to report that children fill economic-utility needs. The older group was also more likely to indicate that there were no disadvantages to having children, and they were less likely to specifically mention disadvantages such as restrictions on freedom or financial costs. This study found that elderly parents are actually more likely to be giving financial help to their children than receiving it, and that contact with children was frequent despite geographical barriers.