After seven years, a group (N=32) of originally nonemployed poverty-level older people (over 60) now employed as foster grandparents were retested with the WAIS. Three subtest scores showed stability and Digit Span showed a statistically significant drop. Neither age nor initial level of health or WAIS scores was related to test-score changes over…

The first point made in this presentation concerns the character of basic human needs, in relation to social groups and intimate relationships. Marjorie Fiske's report (1968) of the importance of confidants to the well-being of older persons has been replicated abundantly, but intimacy and confidants are not all people need. Older persons may also…

Interviews with same-sex adult members of three-generation family lines can dramatize similarities and differences by age and generation in ways of thinking and feeling. An analysis of interviews with 157 families examined the health of the grandparent, the happiness of each of the three generational representatives, and family salience. Twelve…

To date, fewer than a dozen studies of grandparenting have been reported. While a serious reading of the available data is premature, several lines of inquiry and issues can be identified and discussed. This presentation explores six general topics: (1) age and cohort differences, (2) sex differences, (3) social group differences, (4) individual…