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Gendered trajectories of support from close relationships from middle to late life

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 November 2016

JING LIAO ,
ANNE MCMUNN ,
SHANNON T. MEJÍA  and
ERIC J. BRUNNER
JING LIAO*
Affiliation:
School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China. Sun Yat-sen Global Health Institute, Institute of State Governance, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
ANNE MCMUNN
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK.
SHANNON T. MEJÍA
Affiliation:
Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA.
ERIC J. BRUNNER
Affiliation:
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London, UK.
*
Address for correspondence: Jing Liao, School of Public Health, Sun Yat-sen University, No. 74 Zhongshan 2nd Road, Guangzhou, People's Republic of China, 510080 E-mail: liaojing5@mail.sysu.edu.cn
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Abstract

This study investigates gender differences in trajectories of support from close relationships among adults in the transition from middle to old age, taking into account stability and change in the identity of the closest persons. Multi-level modelling was used to estimate gendered age-trajectories in three dimensions of support: emotional support, practical support and negative encounters, which were repeatedly measured over ten years amongst 6,718 Whitehall II participants. Men were more likely than women to nominate their partner as their closest person throughout follow-up; whereas women drew support from a wider range of sources. Gender differences were only evident in age-related trajectories of emotional support, and were contingent on stability and change in the closest relationships. Men reported increased emotional support from closest relationships with age, except for those who transitioned out of a partnership. For women, emotional support was stable among those whose closest person remained consistent, but decreased among those who changed their closest person. Further, emotional support increased with age for all married men, which was only the case for married women who nominated their partner as their closest person. Our analysis highlights gender-specific trajectories of perceived support from adults’ closest relationships in late life, and indicate more pronounced socio-emotional selectivity in older men than women.

Keywords

genderclose relationship trajectorylongitudinal study
Type
Articles
Information
Ageing & Society , Volume 38 , Issue 4 , April 2018 , pp. 746 - 765
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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