Evaluation of Family Relationships by Aged People with Different Health and Sociodemographic Conditions

Abstract This study was aimed to investigate associations between the evaluations of family relationships performed by elderly people and their sociodemographic and health characteristics. 134 seniors were submitted to self-report measures of satisfaction with family relationships and family climate, sex, age and family configuration. Data were submitted to cluster analysis from which there were derived three variable groups whose differentiation was mostly determined by functional independence (R2 = 0.816) and satisfaction with family relationships (R2 = 0.642). There we observed statistically significant associations between functional independence, absence of depression and anxiety, satisfaction with family relationships, and positive evaluation towards family climate; depression and anxiety, dissatisfaction with family relationships, and negative evaluation of the family climate; functional dependence, depression and anxiety, satisfaction with family relationships and negative evaluation of the family climate, suggesting that functional dependence and emotional disturbances can be risk conditions towards family functionality.