Little attention has been focused on remarriage among older persons and on the effects of chronic illness on late-life marriages and kinship relations. The authors examine the developmental tasks of older stepfamilies and the impact of a dementing illness on family members. Case examples are provided and recommendations offered to enable older stepfamilies to cope with anticipated problems.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Advisory Panel on Alzheimer's Disease. (1991). Second report of the Advisory Panel on Alzheimer's Disease. Department of Health and Human Services Publication No. (ADM) 91-1791. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
2.
AustromM. G., & HendrieH. C. (1990). Death of the personality: The grief response of the Alzheimer's disease family caregiver. American Journal of Alzheimer's Care and Related Disorders and Research, 6(2), 16–27.
3.
BossP.GreenbergJ., & CaronW. (1988). Ambiguous loss in Alzheimer's disease. In ChilmanC.CoxF., & NunnallyE. (Eds.), Families in trouble.Beverly Hills, CA: Sage Publications.
4.
BowersI. C. H., & BahrS. J. (1989). Remarriage among the elderly. In BahrS., & PetersonE. T. (Eds.), Aging and the family.Lexington, MA: Lexington Press.
5.
BrodyE. (1985). Parent care as a normative family stress. Gerontologist, 25, 19–29.
6.
ClippE. G., & GeorgeL. K. (1990). Psychotropic drug use among caregivers of patients with dementia. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 38, 227–235.
7.
CohenD., & EisdorferC. (1986). The loss of self.New York: W. W. Norton.
8.
Cosbey-BurnettM. (1984). The centrality of the step relationship: A challenge to family theory and practice. Family Relations, 33, 459–463.
9.
CrosbieJ.BowmanD., & StullD. E. (1991, March). When caregiving moves to the nursing home. Paper presented at the 37th Annual Meeting of the American Society on Aging, New Orleans, LA.
10.
DubermanL. (1975). The reconstituted family: A study of remarried couples and their children.Chicago: Nelson-Hall.
11.
EvansD. A.FunkensteinH. H., & AlbertM. S. (1989). Prevalence of Alzheimer's disease in a community population of older persons higher than previously reported. Journal of the American Medical Association, 262, 2551–2556.
12.
GallagherD.RoseJ.RiveraP.LovettS., & ThompsonL. W. (1989). Prevalence of depression in family caregivers. Gerontologist, 29, 449–456.
13.
GentryM., & ShulmanA. D. (1988). Remarriage as a coping response for widowhood. Psychology and Aging, 3, 191–196.
14.
GeorgeL. K., & GwytherL. P. (1986). Caregiver well-being: A multidimensional examination of family caregivers of demented adults. Gerontologist, 26, 253–259.
15.
GilfordR. (1986). Marriages in later life. Generations, 11(3), 16–20.
16.
HetheringtonE. M.CoxM., & CoxR. (1977). The aftermath of divorce. In StevensJ. J.Jr., & MatthewsM. (Eds.), Mother–child, father–child relations.Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
17.
KuhnD. (1990). The normative crises of families confronting dementia. Families in Society, 71, 451–460.
18.
MaceN. S., & RabinsP. V. (1991). The 36-hour day: A family guide to caring for persons with Alzheimer's disease, related dementing illnesses and memory loss in later life.Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
19.
McGoldrickM., & CarterE. A. (1980). Forming a remarried family. In CarterE. A., & McGoldrickM. (Eds.), The family life cycle: A framework for family therapy.New York: Gardner Press.
20.
MillsD. M. (1984). A model for stepfamily development. Family Relations, 33, 365–372.
21.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1990). Advance report of final marriage statistics, 1987. Vital and Health Statistics, 38, (12), 12–13.
22.
National Center for Health Statistics. (1991). Vital statistics of the United States, 1987, Volume III, Marriage and divorce. DHHS Pub. No. 91–1103. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
23.
PapernowP. L. (1984). The stepfamily cycle: An experimental model of stepfamily development. Family Relations, 33, 355–363.
24.
PapernowP. L. (1989). Stages in becoming a stepfamily. In BurtM. (Ed.), Stepfamilies stepping ahead.Baltimore, MD: Stepfamilies Press.
25.
PillC. J. (1990). Stepfamilies: Redefining the family. Family Relations, 39, 186–193.
26.
PinkJ. E., & Smith WamplerK. (1985). Problem areas in stepfamilies: Cohesion, adaptability, and the stepfather–adolescent relationship. Family Relations, 34, 327–335.
27.
QuayhagenM. P., & QuayhagenM. (1988). Alzheimer's stress: Coping with the caregiving role. Gerontologist, 28, 391–396.
28.
SagerC. J.WalkerE.BrownH. S.CrohnH. M., & RodsteinE. (1981). Improving functioning of the remarried family system. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 43, 3–13.
29.
SpanierG. B. (1983). Married and unmarried cohabitation in the United States: 1980. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 277–288.
30.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1984). Projections of the population of the United States by age, sex and race: 1983 to 2080. Series P-25, No. 952. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
31.
U.S. Bureau of the Census. (1991). Population profile of the United States, 1990. Current Population Reports, Series P-23, No. 173. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
32.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1987). Losing a million minds: Confronting the tragedy of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
33.
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (1990). Confused minds, burdened families: Finding help for people with Alzheimer's disease and other dementias.Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
34.
VisherE. B., & VisherJ. S. (1978). Common problems of stepparents and their spouses. American Joumal of Orthopsychiatry, 48, 252–261.
35.
VisherE. B., and VisherJ. S. (1982a). Stepfamilies and stepparenting. In WalshF. (Ed.), Normal family processes.New York: Guilford Press.
36.
VisherE. B., & VisherJ. S. (1982b). Stepfamilies in the 1980s. In MessingerL. (Ed.), Therapy with remarried families.Rockville, MD: Aspen Systems Publications.
37.
ZaritS. H.OrrN. K., & ZaritJ. M. (1985). The hidden victims of Alzheimer's disease: Families under stress.New York: New York University Press.