The relationship between mothers and daughters has been shown to be generally positive and strong throughout the life cycle. The relationship may become strained, however, as mothers become dependent due to deteriorating health or chronic health conditions. It has long been recognized in both the gerontological and intergenerational literatures that caring for a dependent elderly parent can be burdensome and stressful for some caregiving adult daughters. Using the elaborated wear-and-tear hypothesis, this study examined longitudinally the impact of the amount of care given on 140 caregiving daughters' perception of the quality of their relationship with their elderly dependent mothers. It was hypothesized that increases in the amount of care given by caregiving daughters over time would lead to a corresponding decrease in relationship quality. It was also hypothesized that relationship quality and amount of care given would be stable over time. Results indicated that providing more care does decrease relationship quality between caregiving daughters and care-receiving mothers over time although it does not do so initially. Further, the results of study showed that relationship quality and amount of care given, on average, are stable over time. / Graduation date: 1997

It is well established that family members, particularly adult children, are involved in their frail parents' decision making. It remains unclear however, how intergenerational decision-making influence is exercised and how it relates to personal and relationship characteristics. This study examined the impact of decision-making strategies and a mother's level of dependence on her daughter on perceived relationship quality as measured by intimacy. The purposive sample consisted of 64 pairs of elderly mothers and their caregiving daughters. Face-to-face interviews explored the connections of various decision-making influence strategies, demographic characteristics, and relationship quality. Mother's level of dependence on her daughter for assistance was measured by a list of 53 caregiving tasks and activities. A series of four multiple regression analyses was used to predict relationship quality from the decision-making influence strategies (i.e., option-seeking, overt negative, covert negative, positive) used by elderly mothers and their caregiving daughters and mother's level of dependence on her daughter. The factors that were most predictive of mothers' perceived intimacy were: (a) mothers' reported use of positive decision-making strategies (e.g., asking partner how she feels, imagining her feelings) and mothers' reported use of fewer covert negative strategies (e.g., ignoring the need for a decision, withholding support); and (b) daughters' reported use of fewer overt negative strategies (e.g., showing anger, irritation, criticizing). The factors that were most predictive of daughters' perceived intimacy were: (a) daughters' reported use of fewer overt negative strategies (e.g., showing anger, irritation, criticizing); (b) daughters' reported use of positive influence strategies (e.g., asking partner how she feels, imagining her feelings); and (c) mothers' reported use of positive strategies (e.g., asking how she feels, trying to imagine her feelings). Mother's level of dependence on her daughter was not found to be predictive of mothers' or daughters' perceived intimacy. These results as well as recommendations for future research and practice are presented. / Graduation date: 1993

Decreasing mortality rates and increasing life expectancy are contributing factors in a trend currently referred to as the "graying" of America. Some members of this aging population will require caregiving support from their families. Because women tend to outlive men, adult daughters generally assume this important role for their widowed mothers. As the health of the care recipient declines, the caregiver often suffers from stress or frustration. Some current research links health declines with decreases in elders' abilities to reciprocate instrumentally for care received. Other research suggests elders compensate for their inabilities to give instrumental aid such as advice and money by continuing to give socioemotional aid such as support and love. It is not known how caregiver stress levels relate to the exchange of socioemotional aid. Thus, this study examined the association among care given, perceived reciprocity, and frustration with daughters' caregiving. The question asked was: Does perceived socioemotional aid moderate the impact of the level of caregiving on frustration with caregiving for daughters? Social exchange theory was the perspective utilized for this research. This theory posits that an individual's desire to reciprocate is due to a general moral norm of obligation and that when people can/do reciprocate, the relationship costs decline. The sample for this study consisted of 164 dependent-mother/caregiving-daughter pairs. Frequencies, means, and standard deviations of background characteristics of all study participants were reported. A correlation matrix showed the relationships among variables. A series of multiple regressions were performed to examine the relationships among the variables as well as the predicted interaction. Results indicated that increased care given to mothers was a significant predictor of increased frustration with caregiving for daughters, and increased perceived socioemotional aid to daughters was a significant predictor of decreased frustration with caregiving for daughters. There was no interaction effect, however. That is, the effect of the amount of care given on frustration was not moderated by socioemotional aid from care recipients. Limitations, implications, and recommendations for further research are discussed. These recommendations include the need for additional research in the area of lifespan or generalized reciprocity and intergenerational relationships. / Graduation date: 1997