Explaining Indicators of Intergenerational Successful Aging by Convoy Model of Social Relations

Abstract

The study was designed to investigate the predictors of successful aging in intergenerational families using the Convoy Model of Social Relations. Convoy Model of Social Relations suggests that one’s’ social relations are influenced by one’s personal and situational factors which then influences one’s quality of life and wellbeing; thus enhancing overall successful aging. The current study was divided into three phases including indigenous exploration of successful aging in intergenerational families (phase I), translation and adaptation of instruments (Phase II), and testing of hypotheses in the main study (Phase III). During the phase I, the phenomenon of successful aging was explored indigenously. The sample of phase I was comprised of five intergenerational families (20 participants) with a distribution of five grandparents (G1), five fathers, five mothers (G2), and five grandchildren (G3). The findings of phase I suggested that successful aging is a life span subjective phenomenon, with an emphasis on social relations and traditional values. Along with those religious aspects emerged as a unique theme for G1 (grandparents), financial independence for G2 (parents), and academic achievement for G3 (grandchildren). Based upon these findings Social Network Characteristics (Antonucci et al. 2014), Attitudinal Familism Scale and Behavioral Familism Scale (Steidel & Contreras, 2003), WHO-Bref QoL Questionnaire, Urdu Version (Khan et al, 2003), and Successful Aging Scale (Reker, 2003) were selected to assess the constructs. During phase II, all the research instruments except WHO-QoL Bref were translated and pilot study was conducted. In the phase III, it was hypothesized that support exchange (received instrumental, emotional, demand & criticism, provided support), attitudinal and behavioral familism, and quality of life predicts one’s own and other family members’ successful aging in G1, G2, and G3. It was also hypothesized that attitudinal and behavioral familism mediate the relationship between support exchange (received instrumental, emotional, demand & criticism, provided support) and quality of life, and successful aging. The mediation model was further tested with a serial mediation pattern by hypothesizing that support exchange (received instrumental, emotional, demand & criticism, provided support) influence social relations (attitudinal & behavioral familism) that affects ones quality of life, ultimately predicting successful aging in all xii three generations. Lastly it was hypothesized that attitudinal and behavioral familism, quality of life, and successful aging is transmitted from G1 to G3 via G2. The sample was comprised of 270 families with 1080 participants (270 grandparents, 540 parents, and 270 grandchildren) that was collected from different areas of Punjab (Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore, Sialkot, & Gujrat). Before testing the hypotheses, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted for all the five research instruments. Findings of the main study showed that support exchange (received instrumental, emotional, demand & criticism, provided support), attitudinal and behavioral familism, quality of life predicts one’s own and other family members’ successful aging. Findings also indicated that attitudinal familism, behavioral familism, and quality of life mediate the path between support exchange (received instrumental, emotional, demand & criticism, provided support) and successful aging in grandparents, fathers, mothers, and grandchildren. Model testing also confirms that received support (instrumental, emotional, & demand/criticism) predicts provided support and attitudinal familism which influence behavioral familism thus influencing quality of life and promoting successful aging in all three generations, though the paths varied across the three generations. Furthermore, attitudinal and behavioral familism, quality of life, and successful aging tend to be transmitted from first-generation to third-generation via middle-generation; whereas only successful aging tends to run in families forming a feedback loop. The findings of the study have significant theoretical and practical implications in the field of developmental psychology, family studies, and gerontology. Keywords: successful aging, familism, support exchanges, intergenerational families, social support, grandparents, parents, grandchildren