Table of Contents

Foreword by Lillian Troll
Preface by Rosemary Blieszner and Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford
Background
The Family Context of Aging: Trends and Challenges by Rosemary Blieszner and Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford
Historical Perspectives on the Family and Aging by Tamara K. Hareven
Aging and the Family: Present and Future Demographic Issues by Kevin Kinsella
Theoretical Frameworks and Research Methods
The Family of the Second Half of Life: Connecting Theories and Findings by Bertram Cohler and Karen Altergott
Family Relations and Individual Development in Adulthood and Aging by Carol D. Ryff and Marsha Mailick Seltzer
Feminist Perspectives on Social Gerontology by Helena Znaniecka Lopata
Family Dynamics and the Leisure Experiences of Older Adults: Theoretical Viewpoints by Jay A. Mancini and Dan M. Sandifer
Methods and Analysis of Family Data by David J. Mangen
Family Relationships
Marriage and Close Relationships of the Marital Kind by Margaret Hellie Huyck
Sibling Relationships in Middle and Old Age by Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford
Aged Parents and Aging Children: Determinants of Relationship Quality by J. Jill Suitor, Karl Pillemer, Shirley Keeton, and Julie Robison
Grandparenting in an Era of Rapid Change by Joan F. Robertson
The Context of Family Life
U.S. Old Age Policy and the Family by Madonna Harrington Meyer and Marcia L. Bellas
Legal Issues and Family Involvement in Later Life Families by Robbyn R. Wacker
Cultural Diversity in the Late Life Family by Colleen L. Johnson
Aging and Kinship in Rural Context by B. Jan McCulloch
Convoys of Social Relations: Family and Friendships within a Lifespan Context by Toni C. Antonucci and Hiroko Akiyama
Turning Points and Interventions
Families and Retirement by Maximiliane Szinovacz and David J. Ekerdt
The Effects of Illness on the Family by Jeffrey W. Dwyer
Death and Bereavement by Miriam S. Moss and Sidney Z. Moss
Widowhood by Shirley L. O'Bryant and Robert O. Hansson
Families and Formal Networks by Shirley S. Travis
Clinical Interventions with Later Life Families by Sara Honn Qualls
Bibliography
Index

Promotional Information

No other reference provides such a comprehensive and timely overview of theory and research about aging and the family.

About the Author

Rosemary Blieszner is professor of gerontology and family studies in the Department of Family and Child Development and associate director of the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Human Development-Family Studies with a concentration in Adult Development and Aging. Her research focuses on family and friend relationships and psychological well-being in adulthood and old age. She is co-author, with Rebecca G. Adams of Older Adult Friendship: Structure and Process (1989) and Adult Friendship (1992).

Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford is assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Indianapolis. She received her PhD in developmental psychology from Rutgers University, and was a National Institute on Aging Postdoctoral Fellow with the Midwest Council for Social Research on Aging. Her research interests and publications are in family relationships of middle-aged and old adults (especially sibling relationships), family relations in a social network context, and attachment across the lifespan.

Reviews

Edited by seasoned researchers, this welcome contribution to family gerontology . . . flows smoothly from each chapter to the next, and has substantial internal integrity. Contributors include some of the leading researchers and theorists in the field. End of chapter references, selected bibliography, and subject index. Highly recommended.
*Choice*

The strength of the handbook is in recognizing the varied and multi-leveled aspects of aging. The text covers comprehensively a wide variety of topics on old age with up-to-date information. . . . [T]his handbook is suitable for teaching purposes as well as a source book for interested professionals.
*Clincal Gerontologist*

[I]t is a welcome and much-needed addition to the handful of extant volumes in the area of family gerontology that are less broad in scope and exhaustive in depth. This volume has many strengths including its focus on both conventional and innovative topics in the subfield of family gerontology. . . . The chapters are well written and the literature reviewed in each is rarely redundant as the authors cite other chapters in the Handbook when appropriate. . . . [T]his Handbook will be an important reference for researchers. In addition, the book will serve as a text in graduate courss in family and gerontology.
*Journal of Applied Gerontology*

Blieszner and Bedford have compiled a conprehensive book of readings, including articles by many of the major researchers and scholars in the field. . . . The book will be useful for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses and as a resource for schoalrs and practitioners.
*Michigan Family Review*