TY - JOUR
T1 - Support for Older Parents in Need in Europe
T2 - The Role of the Social Network and of Individual and Relational Characteristics
AU - Cohen, Liora
AU - Shiovitz-Ezra, Sharon
AU - Erlich, Bracha
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Author(s). Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America.
PY - 2023
Y1 - 2023
N2 - Background and Objectives: Adult children form the backbone of informal care for older parents. To date, limited attention has been paid to the complex mechanism of providing support to older parents. The present study investigated mezzo- and micro-level correlates of provision of support to older parents. The focus was on the child-parent relationship in childhood and in the present. Research Design and Methods: Data were derived from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The analytic sample comprised respondents who participated in SHARE Waves 6-8 and reported having an unhealthy mother (N = 1,554) or father (N = 478). We used hierarchical logistic regression to address 3 models including individual resources, child-parent characteristics, and social resources. We conducted separate analyses for mothers and fathers. Results: Providing support to a parent depended primarily on personal resources followed by the quality of the relationship with the parent. A larger social network of the care provider was also related to increased likelihood of providing support. Support to a mother was associated with positive evaluations of the relationship with her in the present and in childhood. At the same time, negative evaluations of the relationship with the father in childhood were negatively related to providing support to him. Discussion and Implications: The findings point to a multidimensional mechanism, in which adult children's resources are a prominent factor in shaping caregiving behaviors toward their parents. Clinical efforts should focus on adult children's social resources and the quality of the child-parent relationship.
AB - Background and Objectives: Adult children form the backbone of informal care for older parents. To date, limited attention has been paid to the complex mechanism of providing support to older parents. The present study investigated mezzo- and micro-level correlates of provision of support to older parents. The focus was on the child-parent relationship in childhood and in the present. Research Design and Methods: Data were derived from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). The analytic sample comprised respondents who participated in SHARE Waves 6-8 and reported having an unhealthy mother (N = 1,554) or father (N = 478). We used hierarchical logistic regression to address 3 models including individual resources, child-parent characteristics, and social resources. We conducted separate analyses for mothers and fathers. Results: Providing support to a parent depended primarily on personal resources followed by the quality of the relationship with the parent. A larger social network of the care provider was also related to increased likelihood of providing support. Support to a mother was associated with positive evaluations of the relationship with her in the present and in childhood. At the same time, negative evaluations of the relationship with the father in childhood were negatively related to providing support to him. Discussion and Implications: The findings point to a multidimensional mechanism, in which adult children's resources are a prominent factor in shaping caregiving behaviors toward their parents. Clinical efforts should focus on adult children's social resources and the quality of the child-parent relationship.
KW - Child-parent relationship
KW - Informal care
KW - SHARE
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85161826923&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/geroni/igad032
DO - 10.1093/geroni/igad032
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C2 - 37213323
AN - SCOPUS:85161826923
SN - 2399-5300
VL - 7
SP - igad032
JO - Innovation in Aging
JF - Innovation in Aging
IS - 4
M1 - igad032
ER -