TY - JOUR T1 - The Roles of Gray Divorce and Subsequent Repartnering for Parent-Adult Child Relationships. JF - The Journals of Gerontology, Series B Y1 - 2022 A1 - Lin, I-Fen A1 - Susan L. Brown A1 - Kagan A Mellencamp KW - downward financial transfers KW - frequent contact KW - gender KW - life course AB -

OBJECTIVE: Divorce is now widespread in later life, yet little is known about how older adults and their adult children respond in the aftermath of gray divorce. Guided by the life course perspective, this study examines the consequences of gray divorce and subsequent repartnering for parent-adult child relationships from the parent's perspective.

METHOD: Using longitudinal data from the 1998-2014 Health and Retirement Study in the United States, we estimated growth curve models to compare fathers' and mothers' frequent contact with and financial support to their adult children prior to, during, and following gray divorce.

RESULTS: Gray divorce and repartnering had disparate effects on father- versus mother-adult child relationships. Following divorce, fathers' frequent contact with their adult children decreased but financial support to their adult children increased. Fathers' repartnering had an enduring negative effect on frequent contact with their children. Gray divorce did not alter mothers' financial support to adult children and it actually increased interaction between mothers and adult children as the odds of frequent contact doubled upon divorce. Repartnering had no appreciable effects on mothers' relationships with their adult children.

DISCUSSION: The results of our study are consistent with prior research showing that divorce creates a matrifocal tilt in our kinship system. The shifting dynamics of parent-adult child relationships in response to gray divorce and repartnering raise questions about whether gray divorced parents will be able to rely on their adult children for care as they age.

VL - 77 IS - 1 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The Roles of Marital Dissolution and Subsequent Repartnering on Loneliness in Later Life. JF - The Journal of Gerontology, Series B Y1 - 2020 A1 - Matthew R Wright A1 - Anna M Hammersmith A1 - Susan L. Brown A1 - Lin, I-Fen KW - Cohabitation KW - Divorce KW - Remarriage KW - Well-being KW - Widowhood AB -

OBJECTIVES: Loneliness in later life is associated with poorer health and higher risk of mortality. Our study assesses whether gray divorced adults report higher levels of loneliness than the widowed and whether social support or repartnership offset loneliness.

METHOD: Using data from the 2010 and 2012 Health and Retirement Study, we estimated ordinary least squares regression models for women (n = 2,362) and men (n = 1,127) to examine differences in loneliness by dissolution pathway (i.e., divorce versus widowhood), accounting for social support and repartnership.

RESULTS: Divorced men were lonelier than their widowed counterparts. Although social support reduced loneliness among men, the difference between the divorced and widowed persisted. Repartnership assuaged men's loneliness and reduced the variation between divorced and widowed men. Among women, the results did not reveal differences in loneliness for the divorced and widowed although social support and repartnership linked to less loneliness.

DISCUSSION: Later-life marital dissolutions increasingly occur through divorce rather than spousal death. Some older adults go on to form new partnerships. Our findings demonstrate the importance of gerontological research widening the lens beyond widowhood to consider the ramifications of later-life divorce and repartnership for well-being.

VL - 75 IS - 8 ER -