title: Age norms, the timing of family role transitions, and intergenerational caregiving among aging African American women.
abstract: This article reports findings from two exploratory qualitative studies of the relationship between age norms, family role transitions, and the caregiving responsibilities of mothers, grandmothers, and great-grandmothers in multigeneration African American families. Families defined as having "normative on-time" transitions (n = 23) to the roles of mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were compared to families that were classified as having "early non-normative" (n = 18), and "early normative" transitions to the respective roles (n = 20). Results indicate that both the "on-time" and "early" normative transition families had an equitable distribution of caregiving duties for women across generations. In families where the transitions to mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother were considered "early" non-normative, the responsibilities for family caregiving were centered in the young great-grandparent generation. The implications of these findings for future research are discussed.
authors.affiliation: Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Pennsylvania State University, University Park 16802, USA.
authors.forename: L M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Burton
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001741:Black or African American; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations; D008875:Middle Aged; D009511:New England; D012424:Rural Population; D015206:Southwestern United States; D014505:Urban Population