The International Journal of Aging and Human Development

The four articles that make up this Special Issue represent a sample of the stimulating work being done with longitudinal studies of social relationships in Europe, Israel, and the United States. A Dutch article examines support to fathers and mothers by their sons and daughters; an Israeli article finds some differences in family relationships among three national origin groups; a Swedish article finds that life satisfaction is associated with sibling contact; and an American article describes differences between casual and close friends, and between the friendships of very old men and women. This essay introduces these articles and comments on cultural similarities and differences that have been found in the broad field of social relationships.

This study examined the relation between the onset of physical impairment of older parents and the instrumental and emotional support received from adult children in the Netherlands. The data were derived from 1,313 older parents who participated twice in a large survey with an interval of about one year between the times of measurement. For the 356 parent-child relationships of the 186 parents who experienced an onset of physical impairment, the support intensities were compared with the support in the child relationships of parents who remained in good health. The results indicated that, given the onset of physical impairment, both sons and daughters are likely to increase the intensity of instrumental and emotional support to their parent, but the increase is the strongest in mother-daughter relationships. Multivariate regression analyses showed that the intensity of support was significantly determined by the onset of parental physical impairment, but even more so by the type of parent-child relationship.

The structure and function of social networks and the perceived instrumental and emotional support associated with these networks were studied longitudinally among a random sample of 687 Jewish Israelis aged seventy-five to ninety-four, stratified by five-year age groups, place of birth (Europe-America, Asia-Africa, or Israel), and gender, interviewed in 1989–92 and 1993–94. Perceived instrumental support at follow-up was predicted by baseline measures of proximity of at least one child and by four or more weekly contacts with intimate friends or family, whereas perceived emotional support was more broadly based and was predicted by more frequent contacts with children, neighborliness, and having more intimate friends. Changes occurring during the follow-up interval, such as entering long-term care or losing a confidant, were associated with a decrease in perceived emotional support but not with a loss of instrumental support. Emotional support was less replaceable over time than was instrumental support.

This longitudinal study examines the relationship between family and friend social support, health, and life satisfaction for a single cohort of eighty-year-old persons living in Lund, Sweden. Results indicate that participants who remained in the study are healthier and score higher on life satisfaction when compared with those who either drop-out or die prior to age eighty-three. Even though well-integrated with family and friends, the number of friends decreases significantly from eighty to eighty-three years; those who reported no close friends nearly doubled from eighty to eighty-three years. However, for those with close friends, contact with friends increases with age. In contrast to previous research, a correlational analysis indicates that neither child nor friend support is related to life satisfaction at either eighty or eighty-three years. However, health measures and satisfaction with sibling contact are related to total life satisfaction at age eighty-three only. These findings indicate the multidimensionality of both social support and life satisfaction for the old-old.

A longitudinal study of friendships between young-old and old-old adults found far more continuity than change in amount of contact with friends. Nevertheless, activities with casual friends more often occurred in groups, whereas activities with close friends were more often concerned with exchanging confidences, with sharing interesting experiences and thoughts, and with helping each other. Gender differences are more pronounced than life-course differences. Men declined in number of new friends, in their desire for close friendships, in the less intimate nature of their interactions with friends, and in involvement in beyond-family activities, while women did not change. Questions about closest friends revealed only a trivial difference between men and women in young-old age; but in old-old age, men (but not women) had declined in many measures of friendship.