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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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"The bitter with the sweet"
— older adults' strategies for handling ambivalence in relations with their adult children | | Author(s) | Glenna Spitze, Mary P Gallant |
| Journal title | Research on Aging, vol 26, no 4, July 2004 |
| Pages | pp 387-412 |
| Source | http://www.sagepub.com |
| Keywords | Parents ; Children [offspring] ; Family relationships ; Attitude ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | This research adds to recent discussions of intergenerational ambivalence, by analysing accounts of relations with adult children from focus group interviews with older parents in New York state (NY). When discussing their adult children, participants reveal strong desires for both autonomy and connection, leading to ambivalence about receiving assistance from them. They define themselves as independent, but hope their children's help will be available, if needed. They are annoyed by children's overprotectiveness but appreciate the concern it expresses. They use a variety of strategies to deal with their ambivalent feelings, such as minimising the help they receive, ignoring or resisting children's attempts to control, withholding information from children to maintain clear boundaries, seeking others as confidants, and rationalising children's unavailability. They actively strive for a balance in their relationships with children. The authors interpret the findings in relation to their children's styles of offering help. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-040909220 A |
| Classmark | SR: SS: DS:SJ: DP: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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