Rosemary Blieszner is professor of gerontology and family studies in the Department of Family and Child Development and associate director of the Center for Gerontology at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. She received her PhD from Pennsylvania State University in Human Development-Family Studies with a concentration in Adult Development and Aging. Her research focuses on family and friend relationships and psychological well-being in adulthood and old age. She is co-author, with Rebecca G. Adams of Older Adult Friendship: Structure and Process (1989) and Adult Friendship (1992).Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford is assistant professor of psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Indianapolis. She received her PhD in developmental psychology from Rutgers University, and was a National Institute on Aging Postdoctoral Fellow with the Midwest Council for Social Research on Aging. Her research interests and publications are in family relationships of middle-aged and old adults (especially sibling relationships), family relations in a social network context, and attachment across the lifespan.

• Foreword by Lillian Troll Preface by Rosemary Blieszner and Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford Background The Family Context of Aging: Trends and Challenges by Rosemary Blieszner and Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford Historical Perspectives on the Family and Aging by Tamara K. Hareven Aging and the Family: Present and Future Demographic Issues by Kevin Kinsella Theoretical Frameworks and Research Methods The Family of the Second Half of Life: Connecting Theories and Findings by Bertram Cohler and Karen Altergott Family Relations and Individual Development in Adulthood and Aging by Carol D. Ryff and Marsha Mailick Seltzer Feminist Perspectives on Social Gerontology by Helena Znaniecka Lopata Family Dynamics and the Leisure Experiences of Older Adults: Theoretical Viewpoints by Jay A. Mancini and Dan M. Sandifer Methods and Analysis of Family Data by David J. Mangen Family Relationships Marriage and Close Relationships of the Marital Kind by Margaret Hellie Huyck Sibling Relationships in Middle and Old Age by Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford Aged Parents and Aging Children: Determinants of Relationship Quality by J. Jill Suitor, Karl Pillemer, Shirley Keeton, and Julie Robison Grandparenting in an Era of Rapid Change by Joan F. Robertson The Context of Family Life U.S. Old Age Policy and the Family by Madonna Harrington Meyer and Marcia L. Bellas Legal Issues and Family Involvement in Later Life Families by Robbyn R. Wacker Cultural Diversity in the Late Life Family by Colleen L. Johnson Aging and Kinship in Rural Context by B. Jan McCulloch Convoys of Social Relations: Family and Friendships within a Lifespan Context by Toni C. Antonucci and Hiroko Akiyama Turning Points and Interventions Families and Retirement by Maximiliane Szinovacz and David J. Ekerdt The Effects of Illness on the Family by Jeffrey W. Dwyer Death and Bereavement by Miriam S. Moss and Sidney Z. Moss Widowhood by Shirley L. O'Bryant and Robert O. Hansson Families and Formal Networks by Shirley S. Travis Clinical Interventions with Later Life Families by Sara Honn Qualls Bibliography Index

"Edited by seasoned researchers, this welcome contribution to family gerontology . . . flows smoothly from each chapter to the next, and has substantial internal integrity. Contributors include some of the leading researchers and theorists in the field. End of chapter references, selected bibliography, and subject index. Highly recommended." - Choice