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Family Ties and Health Cross-nationally: the Contextualizing Role of Familistic Culture and Public Pension Spending in Europe

Overview
Journal J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci
Specialties Geriatrics
Psychology
Social Sciences
Date 2013 Sep 18
PMID 24043356
Citations 7
Authors
Christine A Mair
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Objectives: Although previous research theorizes that cross-national variation in the relationship between family ties and health is due to nation-level differences in culture and policy/economics, no study has examined this theorization empirically.

Method: Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this study uses multilevel modeling to analyze individual-, nation-, and cross-level effects for 30,291 older adults in 14 nations.

Results: Family ties to spouses/partners and parents are associated with better health, but ties to coresident children are associated with poorer health in certain contexts. Familistic culture and public pension spending have a weak but statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between intergenerational family ties and health.

Discussion: This article underscores the complexity of family and highlights the need for continued theorization and measurement at the nation level to promote older adults' health in diverse contexts.

Citing Articles

Widowhood, social networks, and mental health among Chinese older adults: The moderating effects of gender.

Tang D, Mair C, Hu Q Front Psychol. 2023; 14:1142036.

PMID: 37077844 PMC: 10106722. DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1142036.

The association between supportive social ties and autonomic nervous system function-differences between family ties and friendship ties in a cohort of older adults.

Bosle C, Brenner H, Fischer J, Jarczok M, Schottker B, Perna L Eur J Ageing. 2022; 19(2):263-276.

PMID: 35663910 PMC: 9156582. DOI: 10.1007/s10433-021-00638-2.

Didn't Plan One but got One: and Parents in the East and the West of Europe.

Brzozowska Z, Buber-Ennser I, Riederer B Eur J Popul. 2021; 37(3):727-767.

PMID: 34421451 PMC: 8333183. DOI: 10.1007/s10680-021-09584-2.

Alternatives to Aging Alone?: "Kinlessness" and the Importance of Friends Across European Contexts.

Mair C J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2019; 74(8):1416-1428.

PMID: 30855074 PMC: 6777764. DOI: 10.1093/geronb/gbz029.

Gender gap in self-rated health in South Korea compared with the United States.

Lee S, Kim S, Yoo K, Lee S, Park E Int J Clin Health Psychol. 2018; 16(1):11-20.

PMID: 30487846 PMC: 6225050. DOI: 10.1016/j.ijchp.2015.08.004.

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