Intergenerational Relationships and Family Support: Implications for Health and Wellbeing

Abstract This review summarizes research projects supported by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) that have contributed scholarship on intergenerational relationships and support provided to older adults that frequently precedes, and is often complementary to, intensive caregiving. We review NIA-supported projects that have almost exclusively focused on intergenerational relationships and involved primary data collections, and others making use of omnibus aging and family studies that have allowed a variety of investigations on this topic. Where the former set of studies has generated deeply phenotypic analyses—comprehensive fine-grained analyses of relational data in specialized samples—the latter set has focused on analyses of secondary data, often from national samples which include information on intergenerational relationships. Early research funded by NIA addressed the factors underlying cohesion across generations, including the Longitudinal Study of Generations. Subsequent studies shed light on the dynamics of ties between siblings or across multiple generations in navigating support and affection. Studies have revealed important information about transfers of tangible and non-tangible resources, loss of parent or child, and diversity by race, ethnicity, and gender. NIA funding has made important inroads in understanding a relationship that is of primary importance in individuals’ lives for their health and well-being.