Deck 9: Family Ties, Relationships, and Transitions

Question 1

The Vanier Institute of the Family defines which term as "any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption or placement."

A) organization
B) cohort
C) family
D) community

Answer 1

C

Question 2

Which of the following are informal family-like relationships that emerge with neighbours or friends over time and often evolve to a level where a friend or neighbour is almost like a relative?

A) Community networks
B) Kinship circles
C) Fictive kin
D) Childless networks

Answer 2

C

Question 3

What percentage of women aged 65 and over are grandparents?

A) 80 per cent
B) 70 per cent
C) 60 per cent
D) 50 per cent

Answer 3

A

Question 4

What is the most common marital status for older adults?

A) Married
B) Common-law
C) Widowed
D) Divorced

Question 5

Margaret and her common-law partner Ahmed have one young daughter living at home and have shared custody of Margaret's daughter from a previous marriage. For the past five years, Ahmed's father has lived in their "in-law suite" independently but they provide meals for him and help with heavy cleaning tasks. Recently, Ahmed's son from a previous marriage has moved back into the neigbourhood to be closer to family but is having trouble securing employment and is moving back into Margaret and Ahmed's home with his husband and their son. Which term best describes this living situation?

A) Familial chaos
B) New age cohabitation
C) An empty nest
D) A cluttered nest

Question 6

Which term is used to describe caregivers who provide care to both an elderly parent and children living at home?

A) Doughnut generation
B) Onion generation
C) Milkshake generation
D) Sandwich generation

Question 7

What does "intimacy at a distance" in families refer to?

A) Living in a separate part of the house
B) Living far away from family members yet often talking to those family members on the phone
C) Having separate social relationships but eating meals together
D) Living independently yet being close enough to visit

Question 8

Which of the following is true about the definition of family?

A) Family is restricted to blood or marriage ties.
B) Family is dynamic and changes across time and culture.
C) Family is static across time and culture.
D) Family is the same as kin.

Question 9

Which of the following statements regarding major changes in family and kinship structures is false?

A) There has been a shift from an "age-condensed" structure to an "age-gapped" structure in some extended families.
B) There has been an emergence of truncated families in which a specific family lineage eventually disappears when the youngest generation is childless by choice or by chance.
C) The kinship system has become shorter, resulting in less complex family relationships.
D) The number of reconstituted or blended families as a result of remarriage following divorce or widowhood has increased.

Question 10

Kinless older persons tend to be which of the following?

A) Higher income
B) Divorced
C) Poorly educated
D) In poor health

Question 11

Which of the following refers to the role of facilitating kinship interaction taken on by one or two members of the extended family (usually women)?

A) Kin curator
B) Kin guardian
C) Kin keeper
D) Kin caretaker

Question 12

Which of the following serves as the primary resource for assistance and support for people of ethnic minorities?

A) Colleagues
B) Social organizations
C) Friends
D) Extended family

Question 13

Which of the following statements is true?

A) Retirement leads to tension and conflict in marriages.
B) Younger people are generally more satisfied with their marriages.
C) High levels of marital satisfaction are generally reported more by elderly men than elderly women.
D) Marital satisfaction is negatively associated with health and well-being.

Question 14

Which of the following is not a pattern that may be followed by siblings over the life course?

A) No discernible relationship in later life
B) Frequent interaction in the family home during childhood and adolescence, then little or no interaction after leaving home
C) Frequent interaction in childhood continuing throughout the life course if siblings are "best friends"
D) A slow drifting apart during adulthood after entering the labour force and getting married

Question 15

Who represents the predominant monitoring system and source of physical, emotional, and financial support for elderly persons?

A) Volunteer caregivers
B) Adult children
C) Siblings
D) Social workers

Question 16

Which of the following relationships is likely to have the strongest ties?

A) Sisters
B) Brothers
C) A sister and a brother
D) Siblings who hold different socio-economic statuses

Question 17

Which of the following is true about divorced parents and their relationship with their adult children?

A) Divorced fathers receive more assistance and support from their children than do divorced mothers.
B) Divorced mothers receive more assistance and support from their children than do divorced fathers.
C) Divorced parents generally provide more financial aid and support to their adult children.
D) Divorced parents have more contact than married parents with their adult children.

Question 18

Which of the following statements concerning grandparent-grandchild relationships is true?

A) Older people in the future will have more biological grandchildren than they do now.
B) Face-to-face grandparent-grandchild interactions have increased.
C) By 30 years of age, most people still have all four living biological grandparents.
D) In skip-generation households, about half involve a single grandparent providing care for at least one grandchild.

Question 19

Which of the following is true about common-law relationships?

A) They tend to be less permanent than legal marriages.
B) More women than men seek and enter common-law relationships.
C) They are more common in older age cohorts.
D) They are almost never converted to a legal marriage.

Question 20

Which of the following is true about never-married women?

A) They have no access to a pension.
B) They tend to suffer from financial insecurity.
C) They feel stigmatized by being single.
D) They are likely to be highly-educated.

Question 21

Which of the following statements is true?

A) The "empty nest" stage is more common outside North America.
B) For most parents, the transition to the "empty nest" stage is a negative experience.
C) Sons tend to leave home later than daughters.
D) A decreasing number of children continue to live in the family home well into their 30s.

Question 22

Which of the following is not a following for divorce among older adults?

A) To increase the level of excitement in their lives
B) To reduce stress
C) To reduce boredom
D) To improve their physical and mental health

Question 23

Which term refers to adult children who return home after an assumed permanent departure?

A) Bounce-back children
B) Ricochet children
C) Rebound children
D) Boomerang children

Question 24

In which of the following must a widowed woman engage in order to determine who she is as a single woman, following the death of her spouse?

A) Identity work
B) Lived reality
C) Re-partnering
D) Reclamation of self

Question 25

Widowed women are more likely than widowed men to need help with which task?

A) Handling financial matters
B) Keeping in touch with family
C) Cooking meals
D) Cleaning the house

Question 26

Most older adults who remarry consider the marriage successful.

Question 27

Cohabitation is more common and accepted in the US than it is in Canada.

Question 28

Adult children usually return to live in the family home due to unemployment.

Question 29

Most older people prefer "intimacy at a distance."

Question 30

In recent decades, there has been a shift from age-condensed kinship structures to age-gapped kinship structures.

Question 31

Today, few people reach the later stages of life with no surviving kin.

Question 32

Widows usually have less contact with their children than older married or divorced women.

Question 33

Social class influences intergenerational relationships.

Question 34

Mother-daughter ties are stronger than son-father ties.

Question 35

An increasing number of older widows report that they enjoy the freedom and independence of being single.

Question 36

Having fewer children is associated with greater marital satisfaction later in life.

Question 37

More elderly men than elderly women report higher levels of marital satisfaction.

Question 38

Retirement usually leads to tension and conflict in a marriage.

Question 39

Sibling ties are stronger between brothers than between sisters.

Question 40

In the future, older people will have fewer biological grandchildren than they do now.

Question 41

Divorced parents generally provide less financial aid and support to their adult children.

Question 42

Becoming a grandparent after retirement is becoming less common.

Question 43

Most grandparenting is performed by a grandmother.

Question 44

Widowers tend to fare better than widows in terms of continuing or establishing new social relationships.

Question 45

The "empty nest" is more common outside of North America.

Question 46

The topic of family ties of older gay and lesbian adults is understudied.

Question 47

Gay and lesbian adults have similar levels of family support in later life to heterosexual adults.

Question 48

Older LGBTQ adults often face discrimination in terms of unequal access to services because of care-worker attitudes.

Question 49

In later life, most adults who never married report that they are lonely and socially isolated.

Question 50

Childless older adults report having low levels of well-being and inadequate support networks.

Question 51

What is family?

Question 52

Why is the "sandwich" generation part myth, part fact?

Question 53

In what ways have discontinuities and irregularities in the traditional family life course resulted in a social reconstruction of the family?

Question 54

What is meant by a "grandfamily" household? How can this phenomenon affect older persons?

Question 55

What kind of information do we need in order to understand the family or kinship (lineage) structures and relationships across the life course?

Question 56

What are the myths and misconceptions about the structure of Canadian families over time-in particular, the view that multi-generational families were common in the past?

Question 57

What are four major changes in family and kinship structures that have occurred in recent decades?

Question 58

What are four factors that influence family relationships?

Question 59

What is the role of the kin keeper?

Question 60

What is the importance of gender in later-life family relationships?

Question 61

How does social class impact the frequency and nature of intergenerational relationships?

Question 62

How can racial and ethnic background influence family relationships across the life course?

Question 63

How does marital satisfaction change over the life course and why?

Question 64

Why are sibling relationships important for older adults?

Question 65

What patterns are possible for sibling relationships across the life course?

Question 66

What are four main issues concerning relationships between older parents and adult children that have been emphasized in recent years?

Question 67

In what ways are gay and lesbian relationships disadvantaged in terms of family support?

Question 68

What are the differences between older never-married women and older never-married men?

Question 69

What are the reported advantages and disadvantages of being childless in later life?

Question 70

What are the characteristics of the "empty nest" in North America in contrast to developing countries?

Question 71

How can divorce affect men and women differently in old age?

Question 72

How can widowhood affect men and women differently in old age?

Question 73

What is meant by the phrase "intimacy at a distance" and why do older adults prefer it?

Question 74

How might widows and widowers engage in identity work to adapt to being single again?

Question 75

How does the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren change after a milestone event?