SOCIAL SUPPORTS AND LIFE SATISFACTION OF OLDER CHILDLESS WOMEN AND MOTHERS LIVING IN NURSING HOMES (WOMEN ELDERLY).
Contributors: Northwestern University (Evanston, Ill.)
Published: 1994
Number of pages: 209
Subjects: Gerontology.; Sociology, Individual and Family Studies.; Women's Studies.
Description: The purpose of this descriptive survey study is to learn if childless women fare less well than mothers in social support and life satisfaction during the last phase of their lives. From a non-probability convenience sample (N = 58) drawn from three sectarian nursing homes, 29 pairs of mothers and childless women are matched for age, length of nursing home stay, and functional status. From structured and unstructured interviews as well as archival data from medical records, differences and similarities between childless women and mothers are examined across three dimensions of social support: structure, history, and content. Life satisfaction, operationally defined by scores on the revised Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale, is examined in relation to parent status, previous expectations of living arrangements, decision control in moving to a nursing home, and rationale for choosing a home. Both childless women and mothers identify one person as their primary source of support. Mothers turn to daughters, while childless women rely on nieces or daughters of their best friends. These support ties share the following characteristics: very frequent contacts, long term or life-long histories, reciprocity of help, intimate self disclosure, emotional support or closeness, and receipt of at least three types of support. In contrast to mothers, childless women have significantly less support for personal care needs (i.e. help required during an extended illness). Furthermore, childless women depend almost exclusively upon a single provider while mothers have back-up providers who offer additional tangible support.

Childless women and mothers do not differ significantly in their overall life satisfaction. Their scores reflect relatively negative self-evaluations of their own aging, few "agitated" emotions such as anger or worry, and at times, concerns about difficulties in everyday life, loneliness, and sadness. Childless women, more than mothers, expect to live in a nursing home, enact plans in anticipation of their old age, and retain control over entry decisions such as timing and selection of nursing homes.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-03, Section: A, page: 1077.

Thesis (PH.D.)--NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY, 1994.

School code: 0163.