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Changes in church-based social support relationships during older adulthood
1Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109-2029, USA. rdhaywar@umich.edu
Summary
Older adults increasingly give and receive emotional support within religious congregations, while tangible support declines. Satisfaction with support grows with age, with African Americans showing greater engagement.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Sociology of Religion
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Older adults' social support networks evolve throughout adulthood.
- Religious congregations serve as significant social contexts for many older adults.
- Understanding changes in support dynamics within these congregations is crucial for well-being.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine age-related changes in emotional and tangible support given and received by older adults.
- To investigate how these support dynamics differ by race within religious settings.
- To identify predictors of support relationships among older congregational members.
Main Methods:
- Utilized hierarchical linear modeling on a national sample of 1,192 older adults.
- Data collected through up to four interviews over seven years.
- Included White and African American participants attending church regularly.
Main Results:
- Emotional support given and received increased with age; tangible support decreased.
- Satisfaction with both emotional and tangible support improved with age.
- African Americans exhibited higher engagement in all support types; religious factors predicted differences.
Conclusions:
- First study to show within-person changes in church-based support during older adulthood.
- Findings suggest increasing emotional support quality and quantity, but decreasing tangible support.
- Patterns align with the socioemotional selectivity theory, contrasting some secular network findings.
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