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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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Losing and gaining in old age
— changes in personal network size and social support in a four-year longitudinal study | | Author(s) | Theo van Tilburg |
| Journal title | The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological sciences and social sciences, vol 53B, no 6, November 1998 |
| Pages | pp S313-S323 |
| Keywords | Personal relationships ; Social contacts ; Informal care ; Longitudinal surveys ; Netherlands. |
| Annotation | Previous studies have shown that most older people have a significant number of social relationships; but the question of whether ageing produces losses in their personal networks remains open for discussion. This study models the individual variability of the changes affecting multiple personal network characteristics. Personal interviews were conducted with 2,903 Dutch older adults (aged 55-85) in three waves of a four-year longitudinal study. A stable total network size was observed, with an increasing number of close relatives and a decreasing number of friends. Contact frequency decreased in relationships, and the instrumental support received and emotional support given increased. Age moderated the effect of time for some network characteristics. Major variations in the direction and the speed of personal network changes were detected among individual respondents, and non-linear trends were observed. The widely varying patterns of losses and gains among the respondents squares with the focus on the heterogeneity of developments among ageing people. The instability of the network composition might reflect the natural circulation in the membership of networks. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-990304009 A |
| Classmark | DS: TOA: P6: 3J: 76H |
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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