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Aging Parents' Disabilities and Daily Support Exchanges With Middle-Aged Children
Meng Huo1, Jamie L Graham1, Kyungmin Kim2
1Department of Human Development and Family Sciences, The University of Texas at Austin.
The Gerontologist
|October 14, 2017
Summary
Aging parents with disabilities provide and receive support from middle-aged children, influencing their daily mood. These exchanges benefit parents, even with increasing disabilities.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Sociology
- Psychology
Background:
- Aging parents frequently develop disabilities affecting daily living and support capacity.
- Middle-aged children often increase support for aging parents with disabilities.
- Limited research exists on daily support exchanges between aging parents and their middle-aged children.
Purpose of the Study:
- To examine daily exchanges of practical, emotional support, and advice between aging parents (with and without disabilities) and their middle-aged children.
- To investigate the links between these support exchanges and parents' daily mood.
Main Methods:
- Utilized data from 202 aging parents (average age 79.86) from the Family Exchanges Study II.
- Collected daily reports over 7 days on support exchanges (provided and received) and daily mood.
- Employed multilevel modeling to analyze the data.
Main Results:
- Parents with disabilities were equally likely to provide support but more likely to receive practical support.
- Disabilities buffered the mood effects of support exchanges: less negative mood when providing support, more positive mood when receiving practical support.
- Aging parents with disabilities continue to benefit from daily support exchanges with middle-aged children.
Conclusions:
- Daily support exchanges between aging parents with disabilities and middle-aged children are significant and beneficial.
- Disability status influences the relationship between support exchanges and parental mood.
- Findings expand understanding of late-life disability, parent-child relationships, and daily well-being.
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