Diversity, integration, and variability of intergenerational relationships in old age: new insights from personal network research

Reproducible project

Raffaele Vacca http://www.raffaelevacca.com/ (Department of Social and Political Sciences, University of Milan)
2024-02-20

Reproducible project for:

Vacca, R., & Bianchi, F. (2024). Diversity, integration, and variability of intergenerational relationships in old age: New insights from personal network research. Social Science Research, 119, 102991.

(GitHub repository)

Table 1

var value range
Count: All 12 (6.6) 0-29
Count: Family 7.2 (4.8) 0-26
Count: Active 7.5 (4.6) 0-23
Count: IG 4.9 (3.6) 0-17
Count: IG active 3 (2.8) 0-14
Count: Adult children 2.8 (2.1) 0-10
_
Prop: IG 0.42 (0.26) 0-1
Prop: IG active 0.42 (0.31) 0-1
Prop: Adult children 0.26 (0.22) 0-1
_
Max proportion network known (p) 0.61 (0.27) 0-1
Max relative degree (d) 0.82 (0.25) 0-1
Max relative betweenness (b) 0.38 (0.46) 0-1
_
Ego has IG ties 202 (87.8)
Ego has IG active ties 183 (79.6)
Ego has adult children in network 177 (77.3)
IG alter knows all network members 42 (18.5)
IG alter has highest degree 114 (50.4)
IG alter has highest betweenness 42 (28)

Table 2

Variable Category IG ties Same-generation ties All ties pval
N (row %) 1115 (41) 1632 (59) 2747 (100)
_
_
Alter gender Male 533 (48) 716 (44) 1249 (45) 0.0500000
Alter gender Female 582 (52) 916 (56) 1498 (55) 0.0500000
_
Alter role imm.fam 640 (57) 329 (20) 969 (36) 0.0000000
Alter role ext.fam 475 (43) 203 (13) 678 (25) 0.0000000
Alter role other 0 (0) 1081 (67) 1081 (40) 0.0000000
_
Frequency of contact daily 197 (18) 396 (24) 593 (22) 0.0000000
Frequency of contact weekly 502 (45) 626 (38) 1128 (41) 0.0000000
Frequency of contact monthly 307 (28) 418 (26) 725 (26) 0.0000000
Frequency of contact yearly 109 (10) 192 (12) 301 (11) 0.0000000
_
Coresident No 1090 (98) 1507 (92) 2597 (95) 0.0000000
Coresident Yes 25 (2) 125 (8) 150 (5) 0.0000000
_
_
Proportion network known (p) 0.57 (0.25) 0.34 (0.27) 0.44 (0.28) 0.0000000
Relative degree (d) 0.74 (0.26) 0.52 (0.34) 0.61 (0.33) 0.0000000
Relative betweenness (b) 0.13 (0.31) 0.13 (0.31) 0.13 (0.31) 0.6410377
Top 5 alter roles oth.fam, child, child.in.law friend, rel.vol, sibling, neighbor, sib.in.law oth.fam, friend, child, rel.vol, child.in.law

Figure 1

Figure 2

Figure 3

Figure 4

Table S1

Done manually (no code).

Table S2

variable cat Mean (sd) or N (%)
Age 82.98 (5.83)
Gender Female 129 (56.1)
Marital status Married/co-living 122 (53)
_
Education level Primary school 77 (33.5)
Education level Middle school 57 (24.8)
Education level High school 60 (26.1)
Education level University or higher 36 (15.7)
_
Occupation type
  1. Elementary/menial
41 (17.8)
Occupation type
  1. Skilled crafts/trades
85 (37)
Occupation type
  1. Retail/office employee
40 (17.4)
Occupation type
  1. Professional/self-employed
53 (23)
Occupation type
  1. Manager/executive
11 (4.8)
_
N physical diseases None 74 (32.2)
N physical diseases One 92 (40)
N physical diseases Multiple 64 (27.8)
_
Health care events None 129 (56.1)
Health care events One 86 (37.4)
Health care events Multiple 15 (6.5)
Limited ADL Yes 46 (20)
_
GDS score 0 125 (54.3)
GDS score 1 62 (27)
GDS score >1 43 (18.7)
Has dementia diagnosis Yes 27 (11.7)
Lives in ALF Yes 36 (15.7)

Table S3

label Count IG ties: Est. (SE) Count IG ties: P-value Count IG active ties: Est. (SE) Count IG active ties: P-value
Sociodemographics
Age 0.03 (0.01) 0*** 0 (0.01) 0.88
Female 0.24 (0.09) 0.01** 0.05 (0.12) 0.69
Marital status (ref: Single/widow)
Married/co-living 0.38 (0.1) 0*** 0.04 (0.14) 0.79
Education level (ref: Primary)
Middle school 0.21 (0.1) 0.04* 0.29 (0.13) 0.03*
High school -0.15 (0.12) 0.22 -0.07 (0.16) 0.68
University or more -0.16 (0.18) 0.38 0.01 (0.24) 0.98
Occupational status (ref: 1. Elementary/menial)
  1. Skilled crafts/trades
-0.19 (0.12) 0.11 -0.58 (0.16) 0***
  1. Retail/office employee
-0.2 (0.15) 0.17 -0.52 (0.19) 0.01**
  1. Professional/self-employed
-0.1 (0.17) 0.57 -0.59 (0.22) 0.01**
  1. Manager/executive
0.05 (0.25) 0.83 -0.55 (0.32) 0.09
Health
N physical diseases (ref: None)
One 0.02 (0.1) 0.83 0.15 (0.12) 0.23
Multiple 0.11 (0.1) 0.29 0.07 (0.14) 0.63
Recent health care events (ref: None)
One 0.01 (0.09) 0.89 -0.05 (0.12) 0.66
Multiple 0.31 (0.15) 0.04* 0.52 (0.21) 0.01*
Limited ADL 0 (0.18) 0.98 0.36 (0.24) 0.14
GDS (ref: 0)
1 -0.18 (0.09) 0.05 -0.1 (0.12) 0.42
>1 -0.36 (0.15) 0.01* -0.6 (0.19) 0**
Dementia 0.32 (0.17) 0.06 -0.31 (0.24) 0.19
Other
In ALF -0.77 (0.2) 0*** -0.73 (0.26) 0.01**
Phone interview -0.02 (0.11) 0.82 0.23 (0.14) 0.1
(Intercept) -1.24 (0.71) 0.08 1.43 (0.93) 0.13
Log theta 2.53 (0.36) 0*** 1.84 (0.31) 0***
Model statistics
LogLik -543.62 -461.26
AIC 1139.25 974.52
N obs 230 230

Table S4

label Proportion IG ties: Est. (SE) Proportion IG ties: P-value Proportion IG active ties: Est. (SE) Proportion IG active ties: P-value Concentration children: Est. (SE) Concentration children: P-value
Sociodemographics
Age 0.06 (0.01) 0*** 0.04 (0.01) 0*** 0.02 (0.01) 0.03*
Female 0.11 (0.09) 0.23 -0.04 (0.12) 0.74 -0.23 (0.11) 0.03*
Marital status (ref: Single/widow)
Married/co-living -0.02 (0.11) 0.83 -0.05 (0.14) 0.72 -0.12 (0.12) 0.32
Education level (ref: Primary)
Middle school 0.08 (0.12) 0.48 0.19 (0.14) 0.18 0.04 (0.13) 0.77
High school -0.42 (0.14) 0** -0.24 (0.17) 0.16 -0.39 (0.16) 0.01*
University or more -0.23 (0.19) 0.23 -0.3 (0.25) 0.23 -0.53 (0.23) 0.02*
Occupational status (ref: 1. Elementary/menial)
  1. Skilled crafts/trades
-0.43 (0.14) 0** -0.66 (0.16) 0*** -0.29 (0.15) 0.06
  1. Retail/office employee
-0.07 (0.17) 0.69 -0.37 (0.2) 0.07 -0.02 (0.18) 0.94
  1. Professional/self-employed
-0.45 (0.18) 0.02* -0.79 (0.23) 0*** -0.47 (0.21) 0.02*
  1. Manager/executive
-0.41 (0.26) 0.11 -0.56 (0.34) 0.1 -0.44 (0.31) 0.16
Health
N physical diseases (ref: None)
One -0.01 (0.1) 0.93 -0.02 (0.13) 0.9 -0.05 (0.12) 0.64
Multiple -0.11 (0.11) 0.35 -0.16 (0.15) 0.27 -0.17 (0.13) 0.2
Recent health care events (ref: None)
One -0.08 (0.1) 0.4 -0.15 (0.12) 0.24 -0.08 (0.11) 0.47
Multiple 0.28 (0.16) 0.09 0.29 (0.21) 0.16 -0.12 (0.19) 0.52
Limited ADL 0.16 (0.2) 0.41 0.59 (0.27) 0.03* 0.4 (0.22) 0.07
GDS (ref: 0)
1 -0.01 (0.1) 0.96 0.21 (0.13) 0.1 0.18 (0.11) 0.11
>1 -0.34 (0.15) 0.03* -0.38 (0.2) 0.05 -0.13 (0.17) 0.44
Dementia 0.28 (0.21) 0.17 -0.33 (0.27) 0.22 0.27 (0.22) 0.22
Other
In ALF -0.07 (0.24) 0.77 -0.18 (0.31) 0.56 0 (0.26) 0.99
Phone interview -0.21 (0.11) 0.06 0 (0.14) 0.98 -0.09 (0.13) 0.47
(Intercept) -5.12 (0.77) 0*** -3.38 (0.98) 0*** -2.36 (0.86) 0.01**
Model statistics
Deviance 507.23 512.26 423.63
AIC 1080 940.42 926.79
N obs 227 224 227

Table S5

label Pr(Tie is IG): Est. (SE) Pr(Tie is IG): P-value Pr(Tie is IG active): Est. (SE) Pr(Tie is IG active): P-value Pr(Tie is child): Est. (SE) Pr(Tie is child): P-value
Ego characteristics
Age 0.59 (0.12) 0*** 0.28 (0.12) 0.02* 0.17 (0.1) 0.09
Female 0.13 (0.22) 0.55 0 (0.22) 0.99 -0.29 (0.19) 0.12
Marital status (ref: Single/widow)
Married/co-living 0.25 (0.24) 0.31 0.41 (0.25) 0.1 0.15 (0.21) 0.47
Education level (ref: Primary)
Middle school 0.79 (0.27) 0** 0.57 (0.27) 0.03* 0.44 (0.22) 0.05*
High school -0.15 (0.31) 0.62 -0.06 (0.31) 0.84 -0.29 (0.26) 0.27
University or more 0.17 (0.44) 0.7 -0.22 (0.46) 0.63 -0.44 (0.39) 0.26
Occupational status (ref: 1. Elementary/menial)
  1. Skilled crafts/trades
-0.01 (0.32) 0.97 -0.53 (0.31) 0.09 0.26 (0.26) 0.32
  1. Retail/office employee
-0.28 (0.39) 0.47 -0.78 (0.38) 0.04* 0.01 (0.32) 0.98
  1. Professional/self-employed
-0.15 (0.42) 0.73 -0.64 (0.42) 0.13 -0.04 (0.36) 0.92
  1. Manager/executive
-0.36 (0.61) 0.55 -0.55 (0.62) 0.38 0.12 (0.53) 0.83
Health
N physical diseases (ref: None)
One 0.24 (0.23) 0.31 0.39 (0.24) 0.1 0.04 (0.2) 0.83
Multiple 0.14 (0.27) 0.6 0.12 (0.27) 0.67 0.03 (0.23) 0.91
Recent health care events (ref: None)
One -0.14 (0.23) 0.52 -0.37 (0.23) 0.1 -0.16 (0.19) 0.41
Multiple 0.87 (0.4) 0.03* 0.56 (0.41) 0.17 0.35 (0.34) 0.3
Limited ADL 0.5 (0.48) 0.3 0.83 (0.47) 0.07 0.63 (0.38) 0.1
GDS (ref: 0)
1 -0.52 (0.24) 0.03* -0.26 (0.24) 0.27 -0.16 (0.2) 0.43
>1 -0.32 (0.33) 0.34 -0.66 (0.34) 0.05 -0.03 (0.29) 0.92
Dementia -0.45 (0.46) 0.33 -1.08 (0.45) 0.02* -0.11 (0.37) 0.77
Tie/alter characteristics
Contact frequency (ref: Yearly)
Monthly -0.14 (0.19) 0.45 -0.64 (0.22) 0**
Weekly -0.14 (0.18) 0.44 0.29 (0.2) 0.15
Daily -0.57 (0.21) 0.01** 0.46 (0.22) 0.04*
Alter is female -0.11 (0.1) 0.26 0.08 (0.11) 0.46 -0.11 (0.11) 0.32
Alter is co-resident -3.73 (0.35) 0*** -2.58 (0.31) 0*** -2.94 (0.35) 0***
Alter centrality 6.56 (0.38) 0*** 5.18 (0.37) 0*** 4.57 (0.35) 0***
Other
Ego in ALF -1.98 (0.54) 0*** -1.42 (0.51) 0.01** -1.43 (0.44) 0**
Phone interview 0.04 (0.28) 0.88 0.27 (0.28) 0.34 0.2 (0.23) 0.39
(Intercept) -3.1 (0.46) 0*** -3.43 (0.46) 0*** -3.4 (0.43) 0***
Variance components
Ego-level SD 1.12 1.09 0.82
Model statistics
Deviance 2426.35 2180.22 2218.07
AIC 2874.31 2591.53 2544.33
N obs (ties) 2747 2747 2747
N obs (egos) 227 227 227

Table S6

var value range
Count: All 12.5 (6.7) 0-29
Count: Family 7.2 (4.7) 0-26
Count: Active 7.4 (4.5) 0-23
Count: IG 4.8 (3.6) 0-17
Count: IG active 2.9 (2.9) 0-14
Count: Adult children 2.5 (2.1) 0-10
_
Prop: IG 0.39 (0.25) 0-1
Prop: IG active 0.4 (0.31) 0-1
Prop: Adult children 0.23 (0.21) 0-1
_
Max proportion network known (p) 0.6 (0.26) 0-1
Max relative degree (d) 0.86 (0.21) 0.19-1
Max relative betweenness (b) 0.46 (0.48) 0-1
_
Ego has IG ties 92 (86)
Ego has IG active ties 81 (75.7)
Ego has adult children in network 75 (70.8)
IG alter knows all network members 16 (15.2)
IG alter has highest degree 55 (52.9)
IG alter has highest betweenness 25 (32.9)

Table S7

Variable Category IG ties Same-generation ties All ties pval
N (row %) 511 (39) 810 (61) 1321 (100)
_
_
Alter gender Male 234 (46) 348 (43) 582 (44) 0.3400000
Alter gender Female 277 (54) 462 (57) 739 (56) 0.3400000
_
Alter role imm.fam 268 (52) 141 (17) 409 (31) 0.0000000
Alter role ext.fam 243 (48) 112 (14) 355 (27) 0.0000000
Alter role other 0 (0) 554 (69) 554 (42) 0.0000000
_
Frequency of contact daily 99 (19) 200 (25) 299 (23) 0.0100000
Frequency of contact weekly 216 (42) 277 (34) 493 (37) 0.0100000
Frequency of contact monthly 149 (29) 236 (29) 385 (29) 0.0100000
Frequency of contact yearly 47 (9) 97 (12) 144 (11) 0.0100000
_
Coresident No 493 (96) 747 (92) 1240 (94) 0.0000000
Coresident Yes 18 (4) 63 (8) 81 (6) 0.0000000
_
_
Proportion network known (p) 0.56 (0.24) 0.34 (0.26) 0.43 (0.27) 0.0000000
Relative degree (d) 0.78 (0.24) 0.52 (0.34) 0.62 (0.33) 0.0000000
Relative betweenness (b) 0.17 (0.35) 0.13 (0.32) 0.15 (0.33) 0.1531272
Top 5 alter roles oth.fam, child, child.in.law friend, rel.vol, neighbor, sibling, work oth.fam, friend, child, rel.vol, child.in.law

Figure S1

Figure S2

Figure S3

Session info

─ Session info ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 setting  value
 version  R version 4.2.2 (2022-10-31)
 os       macOS Monterey 12.5.1
 system   aarch64, darwin20
 ui       X11
 language (EN)
 collate  en_US.UTF-8
 ctype    en_US.UTF-8
 tz       Europe/Rome
 date     2024-02-20
 pandoc   3.1.1 @ /Applications/RStudio.app/Contents/Resources/app/quarto/bin/tools/ (via rmarkdown)

─ Packages ─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
 package     * version date (UTC) lib source
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 lme4        * 1.1-34  2023-07-04 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
 lubridate   * 1.9.2   2023-02-10 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
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 stringr     * 1.5.0   2022-12-02 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
 tibble      * 3.2.1   2023-03-20 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
 tidyr       * 1.3.0   2023-01-24 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)
 tidyverse   * 2.0.0   2023-02-22 [1] CRAN (R 4.2.0)

 [1] /Library/Frameworks/R.framework/Versions/4.2-arm64/Resources/library

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