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Using a social exchange perspective and data from a national sample of 978 spouse and child caregivers of older family members, this study assessed the association between caregiver relationship and gender and the costs and rewards of caregiving. We also evaluated whether relationship and gender moderate the effects of helpfulness on caregiver costs and rewards. Results supported the hypotheses that women, whether wives or daughters, experience more caregiving costs than do men, and that adult children experience more rewards than do spousal caregivers. In addition, care recipient helpfulness was associated with greater increases in rewards for spousal caregivers than for adult children caregivers.

The authors describe intergenerational approaches to family treatment. The theories of five intergenerational practitioners are briefly discussed. Findings from a research project that examined the relative effectiveness of two different intergenerational approaches are provided.

The help that elders provide to their adult children has received limited attention in the caregiving literature. To address this gap, data were drawn from two samples of caregiving couples: 63 focus group participants and 618 survey respondents. Survey results indicated that help from aging parents is associated with a complex pattern of benefits and costs. Focus group data identified the kinds of help provided by older parents (i.e., financial, emotional, child care, and household tasks) and illuminated why caregivers experience such help as a mixed blessing. Suggestions are offered for practitioners who work with caregivers.

This qualitative study explores the perspectives of aging mothers to understand the ways in which respect is experienced in relationships involving aging mothers and adult daughters with mental illness. Data came from audiotaped personal interviews with a purposive sample of 21 mothers (ages 52–90) of adult daughters with a serious mental illness. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to analyze transcripts and identify the forms of respect described by aging mothers. Aging mothers and their daughters with mental illness experience multiple forms of respect; however, the meanings of respect vary by generation. These findings have practice, educational, and research implications for social workers serving aging families dealing with mental illness.

Exploring how caregivers juggle their responsibilities of work and family, the authors of this volume suggest that dependant care needs to be addressed as a corporate, family and community concern. Drawing from literature as well as from their own extensive research, they present a thorough investigation of the stress factors experienced by workers caught between the frequently conflicting demands of these two roles. Policies, benefits and services reviewed range from approaches that intervene in the caregiving process to those that change the world of work with such alternatives as flexible w

Research on families dealing with mental illness has considered either positive or negative aspects of intergenerational family relationships. The current study extends this work by using intergenerational ambivalence theory to examine aging mothers' contradictory expectations toward adult daughters who are mentally ill. This study focuses on interviews obtained from a sample of 22 mothers aged 52–90 who expressed considerable sociological ambivalence in relation to their grown daughters. Four strategies of managing ambivalence are identified: excusing behaviors, reducing expectations, adjusting help-giving, and confronting. The implications are that practitioners should be aware of intergenerational ambivalence, help aging parents identify their ambivalence management strategies, and assess the extent to which these strategies are adaptive. Future research directions in this area are also discussed.