A Note From the Guest Editor

• Date: 01 December 2006
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• Author: Karen A. Roberto
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2006.00434.x

A Note From the Guest Editor

As researchers and practitioners strive to understand

the structures, meanings, and dynamics of relation-

ships in late life, family gerontology, an area of study

blending aging and family issues, has come of age.

Since 1971, when the first comprehensive review

of this area of inquiry appeared in the Journal of

Marriage and the Family, tremendous growth has

occurred in the breath and depth of topics investi-

gated. With the aging of the baby boom generation

and the older population growing older and more

diverse, family scholars and gerontologists have

begun to detail the great variability and complexities

found within late-life families and the meanings

associated with these most intimate relationships.

Having spent much of my academic career study-

ing aging in the context of families, I was thrilled

when, soon after accepting the editorship of Family

Relations, Joyce Arditti began talking about having

a special issue devoted to family gerontology. I am

honored to serve as guest editor for this issue and to

have the opportunity to showcase the creative and

innovative research by scholars whose commitment

to the study of aging families is shedding new light

on perhaps the most important and influential of all

relationships, those found within families.

This special issue begins with a call for the

explicit use of theory and theorizing in family geron-

tology (Roberto, Blieszner, & Allen). The papers

that follow provide welcomed examples of theoreti-

cally informed empirical research from which explicit

implications for professional practice, education, and

public policy have emerged. Also included is a com-

prehensive review of resources that educators in the

classroom and community will find useful as they

teach others about families in late life (Price & Brosi).

Drawing from several different theoretical frame-

works, the authors of articles in this special issue

contribute to the advancement of the family geron-

tology literature. Their use of quantitative and quali-

tative methodologies provides new insights into the

multifaceted nature of family relationships in late

life. Diverse study samples, which often include

more than one family member, and the inclusion

and interplay of individual- and family-level varia-

bles deepens our understanding of late-life family

dynamics. For example, the papers on parent-child

relationships highlight contemporary issues of

favoritism (Suitor, Sechrist, Steinhour, & Pillemer),

ambivalence (Peters, Hooker, & Zvonkovic), per-

sonal affinities (Carpenter, Lee, Ruckdeschel, Van

Haitsma, & Feldman), and parenting challenges

(Dolbin-McNab). Additional papers on intergenera-

tional relationships address racial and ethnic influ-

ences on normative family obligations (Coleman,

Ganong, & Rothrauff), expectations and challenges

for prescribed family relationships (Turner, Young, &

Black), and the contribution of cross-generational

bonds to emotional well-being (Ruiz & Silverstein).

Family care continues to be a central theme in the

family gerontology literature, but as evident in the

papers included in this issue, scholars are expanding

the focus of their research to address the daily intri-

cacies of heath and illness on family members’ phys-

ical, emotional, and relational well-being (Scharlach,

Li, & Dalvi; Yorgason, Almeida, Neupert, Spiro, &

Hoffm an). Co nversely, there is a dark side of

aging families that scholars can no longer ignore—

interpersonal violence is a life-long concern (Teaster,

Roberto, & Duger).

I want to thank all the authors for their excellent

contributions and dedication to the study of families

in late life. I also wish to extend my appreciation to

Joyce Arditti, Editor; Sara Smock and Elise Cole,

Editorial Assistants; and members of the Editorial

Board of Family Relations and other colleagues who

served as external reviewers for their advice and assis-

tance as this special issue came to fruition.

Karen A. Roberto

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and

State University

Family Relations, 55 (December 2006), 511–512. Blackwell Publishing.

Copyright 2006 by the National Council on Family Relations.