Recent Submissions
Item Neighborhood Engagement, Dogs, and Life Satisfaction in Older Adulthood
Curl, Angela L.; Bibbo, Jessica; Johnson, Rebecca A.Objectives: This study examined the relationships between dog ownership, dog walking, and the emotional bond with a dog to neighborhood engagement and life satisfaction among those over age 50. Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (N=476), two path analysis models were conducted to test the research hypotheses. Results: Findings indicated that dog ownership did not have a direct or indirect relationship on life satisfaction. However, time spent in dog walking was associated with frequency of social interactions, which itself had a positive association with life satisfaction. The bond with a dog was not directly associated with life satisfaction but was associated with dog walking. Discussion: Dog walking is a promising strategy for simultaneously promoting better health and social engagement, and these factors in turn can promote greater life satisfaction of older adults.Item Transitioning from Successful Aging: A Life Course Approach
Cooney, Teresa M.; Curl, AngelaObjectives: The life course perspective and representative U.S. data are used to test Rowe and Kahn’s Successful Aging (SA) conceptualization. Four sets of influences (childhood experiences; social structural factors; adult attainments; and later life behaviors) on SA transitions are examined to determine the relative role of structural factors and individual behaviors in SA. Methods: Eight waves of Health and Retirement Study data for 12,108 respondents, 51 and older, are used in logistic regression models predicting transitions out of SA status. Results: Social structural factors and childhood experiences had a persistent influence on transitions from SA, even after accounting for adult attainments and late life behaviors—both of which also impact SA outcomes. Discussion: The findings on sustained social structural influences call into question claims regarding the modifiability of SA outcomes originally made in presentation of the SA model. Implications for policy and the focus and timing of intervention are considered.Item Community and Adolescence in Four Societies
Curl, Angela L.This study disputes the assumption that adolescence is a universal life stage as described by Erikson. Data were collected about twelve communities in four countries: the United States, India, New Zealand, and Romania. The findings suggest that there is a hierarchy of communities and societies, and that adolescence is socially constructed in each of these local settings.Item Reshaping retirement policies in post-industrial nations: The need for flexibility
Curl, Angela L.; Hokenstad, M. C. "Terry"Social Security programs in post-industrial nations are facing the need for policy reforms. Fiscal shortfalls in current Social Security programs are a major driving force promoting these reforms. At the same time, changes in longevity and the nature of work and retirement also suggest the need for policy reform. This article begins with a broad overview of some of the policy innovations of the Europe Union as a whole, and then focuses more in-depth on policy reforms in three countries that exemplify Esping-Andersen’s (1990) typology of welfare states: Sweden, Germany, and Canada. These three countries have passed policies that promote flexibility in retirement for older adults, including “gradual retirement”, “partial retirement”, and credit for caregiving activities. Keeping older adults in the labor force longer retains the tax base of contributors into Social Security as well as allowing those who want to stay in the labor force more choice. The reforms are discussed, along with their potential usefulness for future Social Security policy reforms in the United States.Item Anticipatory socialization for retirement: A multilevel dyadic model
Curl, Angela L.; Ingram, Jerry G.Role theory, widely used to examine human behavior, has often been used to describe the transition from work to retirement. Anticipatory socialization, a role theory concept, describes the process that occurs prior to role transitions and assists in that transition by helping individuals learn the norms for the new role. However, not all workers engage in retirement planning. Lack of retirement planning is of concern because those individuals who do not plan for major life transitions tend to be less successful in adjusting to role changes. Data from the Health and Retirement Study were used; selection criteria required participants to be age 45 or older, working full- or part-time, and have complete data for the study variables. Multilevel modeling results of dyadic data from the Health and Retirement Study (N = 1,028 dual-earner couples) indicate that older age, being White, higher income, greater retirement wealth, and looking forward to retirement predicted greater anticipatory socialization (i.e., thinking about and discussing retirement) by both husbands and wives. For wives only, having a health problem limiting work, higher spouse occupational status, and having a spouse who was looking forward to retirement predicted more anticipatory socialization. For husbands only, higher education, higher depressive symptomatology, and lower occupational status predicted more anticipatory socialization. This study found evidence of spousal congruence, with husbands, on average, engaging in more anticipatory socialization than wives. These findings identify couples that could most benefit from targeted efforts to increase anticipatory socialization, which predicts better retirement adjustment and satisfaction.Item Factors affecting willingness of social work students to accept jobs in aging
Curl, Angela L.; Simons, Kelsey; Larkin, HeatherThe aging of the United States population is creating an increased need for social workers and other helping professionals with training in gerontology. Recent estimates indicate that less than three percent of MSW students are enrolled in an aging concentration, as compared to 19.0% enrolled in children/youth concentrations. This study (N=126) examines factors that affect students' willingness to accept jobs in aging. Results of a hierarchical logistic regression indicate that age and personal/professional experiences with older people (but not gender, race, or educational level) significantly predicted willingness to accept jobs in aging.Item Retirement transitions among married couples
Curl, Angela L.; Townsend, Aloen L.Retirement is often viewed as an event when someone completely withdraws from paid employment. The purpose of the present study was to examine the patterns of retirement transitions evidenced in married couples in the Health and Retirement Study over an 8-year period (1992-2000). The sample consisted of White and Black married couples (N = 1,118) where both spouses were working and at least one spouse was aged 51-61 at baseline. A variety of complex retirement patterns were found. Husbands were more likely than wives to show a linear pattern (i.e., a transition directly from work to complete retirement). Transitions were related within couples. Policy and practice implications are discussed.Item A multilevel dyadic study of the impact of retirement on self-rated health: Does retirement predict worse health in married couples?
Curl, Angela L.; Townsend, Aloen L.Objectives: This study examined the effects of retirement on self-rated health for married couples, using interdependence and social stratification theoretical frameworks. Methods: Dyadic multilevel modeling of data (N = 2,213 non-Hispanic couples) from 1992-2010 of the Health and Retirement Survey. Results: Retirement was associated with worse self-ratings of health (SRH) short-term for both husbands and wives during the first couple of years of retirement. In addition, the longer husbands (but not wives) were retired, the more their SRH worsened. Cross-spouse effects varied by gender: when wives retired, their husbands’ SRH improved short-term, but when husbands retired their wives’ SRH improved long-term. Spouse education moderated the relationship between years since spouse’s retirement and SRH for wives. Discussion: Practitioners can use this information to help married couples through retirement planning and transitions. Results suggest that models of retirement in couples should pay greater attention to gender and other social stratification factors, spousal interdependence, and length of time since retirement.Item A longitudinal study of website accessibility: Have social work education websites become more accessible?
Curl, Angela L.; Bowers, Deborah D.This study (N = 45 schools) sought to determine the accessibility of baccalaureate social work program websites in 2003 and 2008 using Priority 1 checkpoints from the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) 1.0 guidelines. Paired t-test results indicate that the mean accessibility scores of five of the nine items (plus the website accessibility scale as a whole) was statistically higher after five years. However, 75.6% of programs still had one or more Priority 1 accessibility barriers in 2008 and thus did not meet the lowest W3C accessibility guidelines. This highlights the need for more education about barriers to accessibility and methods for making websites more accessible.Item A case study of professional change: The impact of the National Gerontological Social Work Competencies Survey
Curl, Angela L.; Tompkins, Catherine J.; Rosen, Anita L.; Zlotnik, Joan LevyOur society is aging and this demographic change necessitates that all social workers have basic competency in gerontology. This article describes the results of a competency survey conducted in 2000, and how these results helped transform basic social work curricula and enhance gerontology-related resources. Results were used to encourage and assist social work faculty to infuse gerontological content into social work curriculum, which helped practitioners to gain the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the needs of a growing aging population. This social work education framework can be replicated in an effort to infuse gerontology content throughout other disciplines.Item Giving up the keys: How driving cessation affects engagement in later life
Curl, Angela L.; Stowe, James D.; Proulx, Christine M.; Cooney, Teresa M.Purpose of the study. Many older adults consider driving vital to maintaining their preferred lifestyle and engagement with society, yet it is normative for individuals to eventually stop driving. This study examined the impact of driving cessation on older adults’ productive and social engagement, and whether mental and physical health mediated this relationship. Design and Methods. Multilevel modeling was used to analyze longitudinal data (N = 4,788 adults age 65+) from the Health and Retirement Study (1998 – 2010). Results. Productive engagement (paid work, formal and informal volunteering) was negatively affected when older adults stopped driving, but social engagement was not immediately compromised by the transition to non-driver status. The role of health and mental health as mediators in explaining this relationship was negligible. Implications. The results suggest that interventions aimed at maintaining non-drivers’ participation in productive roles should focus on factors other than enhancement of health and well-being to spur greater engagement (e.g., availability of and barriers to use of public transportation). Also important in the intervention process is planning for mobility transitions. Future research should test for geographic (e.g., urban vs. rural) differences in the impact of driving cessation on productive and social engagement.Item Productive and Social Engagement following Driving Cessation: A Couple-Based Analysis
Curl, Angela L.; Proulx, Christine M.; Stowe, James D.; Cooney, Teresa M.Drawing on interdependence theory, this study examined the cross-spouse impact of driving cessation on productive (work, formal volunteering, and informal volunteering) and social engagement of older couples age 65+ using longitudinal data from the Health and Retirement Study (1998 – 2010; N = 1,457 couples). Multilevel modeling results indicate that driving cessation reduced husbands’ productive and social engagement, and wives’ productive engagement. Spousal driving cessation reduced husbands’ likelihood of working or formal volunteering, and wives’ likelihood of working or informal volunteering. The more time since spousal driving cessation, the less likely husbands were to work and the less likely wives were to formally volunteer. Results suggest the need for greater recognition of the impact of driving cessation on couples, rather than just individuals, as well as the need for enhanced services or rehabilitation efforts to maintain driving even among couples with one remaining driver.Item Meta-Synthesis Older Adults' Spiritual Needs in Health Care Settings: A Qualitative Meta-Synthesis
Hodge, David R.; Horvath, Violet E.; Larkin, Heather; Curl, Angela L.Recognizing that spiritual needs often emerge in health care settings, the Joint Commission requires spiritual assessments in numerous organizations frequented by older adults. Given that many gerontological practitioners have received little training in identifying spiritual needs, a qualitative meta-synthesis (N = 9 studies) was conducted to identify and describe older adults’ perceptions of their spiritual needs in health care settings. Five interrelated categories emerged: (a) spiritual practices; (b) relationship with God; (c) hope, meaning, and purpose; (d) interpersonal connection; and (e) professional staff interactions. The implications of the findings are discussed as they inform the spiritual assessment process.Item A program evaluation of block and concurrent practicum formats
Curl, Angela; Cary, SuzanneThis study investigated the issues related to block versus concurrent formats for the advanced MSW field placement. Quantitative and qualitative survey data were collected from current MSW students (N=103) and Field Instructors (N=84). Each group identified advantages of both block and concurrent formats for field education. Educational outcomes, the needs and preferences of students and field placement sites, and institutional perspectives should be taken into account when developing field curriculum and policies. Offering both types of practicum formats may be one way to maximize student choice and field placement options.