Chair: Svein Olav Daatland

O2.1.1             Dementia: positive aspects of relationship changes

Willeke van de Ruitenbeek¹ , Carolien Smits², Thóra B. Hafsteinsdóttir³

¹ Stichting De Bilthuysen, Netherlands, ² Windesheim, University of Applied Sciences, The Netherlands,

³  University Medical Centre Utrecht, Netherlands

Background: The number of people with dementia is increasing. Most people with dementia in the Netherlands receive informal care (e.g. from their child). Research indicates that the relationship between a person with dementia and their child changes. Generally, a positive parent-child relationship is a protective factor for well-being for both parent and child. It is not clear, however, if this also applies to dementia care relationships. The present study aims to explore the positive aspects of changing relationships between informal caregivers and their parents with dementia, as experienced by the caregivers. Methods: The study has a qualitative design witha descriptive phenomenological approach. Data were gathered through 15 semi-structured interviews with sons and daughters of parents with Alzheimer’s disease or vascular dementia. Colaizzi’s method was used for analysis. Research results: Two themes with four subthemes were identified: (1) the benefits of seeing positive aspects during a grim process with the subthemes of relationship benefits and personal benefits (2) the need to sustain positivemoments and the actions taken to do so, with the subthemes of seeking contact and taking enjoyment in their parents’ pleasure. Conclusions: This study identifies the positive aspects of relationship changes in dementia as relationship and personal benefits, during a grim time. It shows that sustaining positive interaction is meaningful for children caring for their parent. Interventions aiming to support carers may address both the positive relationship aspects and the caregivers’ burden to improve carers’ well-being.

O2.1.2             Intergenerational solidarity in ageing stepfamilies – the case of mediating relationships

Torbjörn Bildtgård¹, Peter Öberg²,

¹Stockholm University, Sweden, ² University of Gävle, Sweden

Background: As a result of increased divorce and repartnering rates in the 70s, ageing step-families are becoming increasingly common. The purpose is to investigate cohesion over time in ageing step-families, in particular the role of mediating relationships.

Method: Qualitative interviews with older parents (n=13; aged 66-79) who had lived in a household with a step-child; and adult children (n=11; aged 31-56), who had lived in a household with a step-parent. The analytic focus is on the parental perspective. Interviews were guided by the intergenerational solidarity model, including questions about associative, structural, affective, consensual, functional and normative solidarity. Qualitative descriptions of all older parents’ family relationships (n=187) were distilled using Interpretative phenomenological analysis.

Results: Five types of mediating relationships were central to the cohesion of the ageing stepfamily. Relationships with stepchildren/grandchildren depended on: Intimate partner (if the relationship with the parent of the child was still intact and if not – if it had been dissolved through separation or widowhood). Alternate parent ¬(if the child had had a biological parent outside the household, and whether that parent was absent, cooperative or competing). Bridge-child (if the intimate partners had a common child that joined all family members by blood-ties). Son/daughter-in-law (if the relationship with the partners of step-children is good). Mid generation (relationships with step-grandchildren were conditional on relationships with step-children).

Conclusion: Using the convoy model and the theory of linked lives we will discuss how these five relationships are central to the cohesion of the ageing stepfamily over time.

O2.1.3             Generational support in Iceland: How older people in Iceland support the younger generations

Ingibjörg Harðardóttir, Amalía Björnsdóttir

University of Iceland

Generational support in Iceland: How older people in Iceland support the younger generations

The aim of the study was to evaluate the contributions of older individuals to the Icelandic society. The focus is on how older people in Iceland support younger generations through childcare, finical support, and support based on the special needs in their families. This is a longitudinal study. Therefore, we are able to compare the results from 2006 and 2016 and look at changes that have occurred, including changes after the 2008 economic collapse in Iceland.

Data was collected with two telephone surveys conducted in Iceland in 2006 (N = 725) and 2016 (N = 706). The participants were individuals ages 67-85, who were selected randomly from the national register.

About 62% of the participants in 2006 and 73% in 2016 had provided help with childcare, and about 19% in 2006 and about 21% of participants in 2016 had helped family members or others because of serious illnesses or disabilities.  The financial support of participants was greater in 2016 than 10 years earlier. 59% had lent or given money in 2016 compared to 54% in 2006, and about 40% had purchased clothing, household appliances, or necessities in 2016compared to 27% in 2006.

This support has a tendency to be invisible and undervalued by those who provide the services and those who benefit. It is important that older people and others realise that these contributions are vital for the older people themselves and for those who benefit

O2.1.4             Great-grandparents in the perspective of the multigenerational family

Emily Schuler, Cristina Maria de Souza Brito Dias

Universidade Catíolicad de Pernambuco, Brazil     

The increase of human aging is a phenomenon observed in world scale and allows the experience of several roles within the family. Consequently, more and more multigenerational families are emerging, formed by four or even five generations, and therefore more vertically. Thus, the objective of this research was to understand the role of great-grandparents, as well as the intergenerational repercussions of this role in their lives and that of their relatives. It is a multiple case study with four families consisting of four generations and a family with five generations, thus totaling twenty-two participants. Three great-grandparents, two great-grandparents, and a great-great-grandmother. As for the other generations, five children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and a great-great-grandmother were interviewed. As a research instrument, a semi-directed interview was used, with a specific script for each generation, as well as a questionnaire with the sociodemographic data of the participants. The data were analyzed through thematic content analysis. The main results pointed out that meaning of being great-grandmother is intimately linked to the feeling of transcendence, the sense of having fulfilled the purpose of life and also its continuity in grandchildren and great-grandchildren. In other generations, the appreciation of the great-grandparents, perceived as wise people, has been observed and can contribute as teachers to the new generations. It is hoped to give visibility to this generation still little studied in our country.

Keywords: Great-grandparents. Multigenerational families. Intergenerational relations.

O2.1.5 Knitting alone in the city: Oslo's intra- and inter-urban variations in linked lives

Gustavo Sugahara¹, Viggo Nordvik²

¹ OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway, ² NOVA, OsloMet – Oslo Metropolitan University, Norway

Population ageing affect social and care policy in urban areas differently. Partly this is simply due to broader population dynamics, such as the concentration of people in metropolitan areas. Partly it is because the kinship ties and spousal situation in cities differ, in terms of both extent and proximity. This paper documents these differences empirically and discusses policy consequences of it. Departing from the hypothesis that the lives of older persons are more affected by children, grandchildren or siblings living close by than if they have a more distant residence, this paper analyses different aspects of the set of family and kinship ties of different delimitations of the group ‘older persons’. Using a registry based data set containing all individuals residing in Norway with information on residential location and a unique parent child identifier we are able to identify the set of family links of individuals 70-80 and 80 and over years of age. The main body of the paper consists of descriptions of older persons’ households taking account of spousal situation and other kinship relationships and their location. This we do for Oslo, the municipalities surrounding Oslo and the rest of the country in 2014. Despite Oslo’s comparatively lower share of older residents we found a significantly higher prevalence of individuals without any kinship links living nearby. Gender differences are a key factor of influence. Older females have less kinship links than males of the same age. This situation is amplified by the capital context.

O2.1.6 Changing intergenerational relations and tTheir Impact upon older people’s depression in China

Yazhen Yang, Maria Evandrou, Yazhen Yang

University of Southampton, UK

Background: The trends of rapid population ageing, modernisation and urbanisation, changing family structure and weakening filial norms in China are exerting pressure on intergenerational relations within Chinese families.

Methods: This study investigates the changing intergenerational financial and psychological support within Chinese families, and their impact upon the depression status of older people, based on statistical analyses of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (CHARLS) data (2011, 2013, and 2015).

Research results: This study shows that the proportion of older respondents receiving financial support from adult children declined from 2011 to 2015, whereas such support provision from older parents to adult children increased over the same time period. The proportion of older people having weekly in-person contact with children dropped in 2015, while intergenerational contact by phone/mail/email has strengthened. The fixed effects model suggests that receipt of financial support from adult children is negatively associated with older people’s depressive symptoms (OR=1.11, p<0.01), whilst the provision of such support to adult children has a reverse association with their depression status (OR=0.89, p<0.01). Interestingly, both intergenerational weekly in-person (OR=0.84, p<0.01) and distant contact (OR=0.77, p<0.01) has a positive association with older people’s depression status.

Conclusions: Intergenerational financial and psychological support has significant association with the depression status of Chinese older people, and this might reflect a causal association. The policy implementations of such findings need to be taken into account at the national, regional and local level in order to strengthen the intergenerational ties and to improve older people’s well-being in China.