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Based on the Pathways to Life Quality longitudinal research study, this book explores the ways in which older adults' residential choices impact their health and well-being. The study examines the factors associated with life quality for persons living on their own in the local community, as well as those in various housing arrangements such as a continuing care retirement facility, adult home, income-subsidized housing, and senior apartments. Topics include plans and adjustment to moving; role identities; social relationships, participation, and integration; health and activity patterns; and

Is "family adaptive strategy" a useful concept? Does use of this concept link actions of individual families with macro-level social change? This chapter examines the concept of family adaptive strategies, noting that it is an intuitively appealing metaphor for family response to structural barriers and stressful events. It has been used principally as a sensitizing device, describing both macro-level and micro-level trends and patterns of behavior. But good examples of empirical investigations of family strategies are difficult to find. What we mean by a good example is one that uses the family adaptive strategy concept as an explanatory process. Three studies, by Elder (1974), Tilly & Scott (1978), and Hareven (1982b), do fruitfully draw on family strategies of adaptation using concrete measures of this hypothetical concept. We discuss various methodological issues related to this concept: the level of analysis, the unit of analysis, and problems of operationalization. In addition to these methodoological problems, there are also conceptual difficulties: what exactly is and is not a "strategy," whether families themselves view their actions as strategies or whether this label is based on researchers' analysis and interpretation, and whether strategies can be treated simultaneously as a cause and an effect. Several theoretical models serve to locate family strategies of adaptation. A structural approach emphasizes the ways that larger social structural forces constrain the repertoire of available adaptations. A rational choice approach underscores the role of choice, within the confines of structural constraints, in an effort to maximize family well being. And a life course approach points to the importance of historical time, life stage, and context in delimiting both family problems and the possible strategies to deal with them.

"Translational research links scientific findings with programs and policies that improve human health and well-being. It includes research that evaluates interventions or policies for efficacy and effectiveness, as well as research that applies field experience to future development of basic theory and its applications. Although translational research has traditionally emphasized biomedical studies with one type of application (i.e., individual-level intervention to treat disease), the concept has expanded to include various sciences and many types of applications. Social and behavioral sciences now often contribute to public- and individual-level interventions that promote education, disease prevention, health care delivery, health care access, and more. This broader, more inclusive approach to translational research has gained popularity and been promoted by the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control, medical centers, and university programs. This book demonstrates how emerging methods of translational research can be applied to important topics of interest to social and behavioral scientists. Accessible models and real-world case studies are provided to help bridge the gaps among research, policy, and practice"--Publicity materials. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved).

This article uses panel data from 745 married women in the Detroit Metropolitan Area to examine the mental health effects of employment and parenting status changes. Contrary to popular belief, the transition to parenting is not directly related to increases in psychological distress. Changes in employment status, however, are. Women who significantly increase their labor force participation report lower levels of psychological distress over the study period, while women who significantly decrease their labor force participation report higher psychological distress. The effects of labor force changes on mental health are not all modified by parenting status or changes in parenting status. The transition to parenting and increased parenting responsibilities, however, are indirectly related to increased psychological distress insofar as they result in decreased labor force participation. The implications of these results are used to evaluate four competing perspectives on the relationship between roles, stress, and psychological functioning.