Older people’s family relationships in disequilibrium during the COVID-19 pandemic. What really matters?

Inter- and intragenerational relationships are known to be important in maintaining the wellbeing of older people. A key aspect of these relationships is the exchange of both emotional and instrumental social support. However, relatively little is known about how this exchange of support changes in the context of widespread disruption. The COVID-19 pandemic provides an opportunity to examine how older people's family relationships are impacted by such social change. The present qualitative study explores how older people in the United Kingdom experienced changes in inter- and intragenerational support during the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants (N = 33) were recruited through a large-scale nationally representative survey (https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology-consortium-covid19). We asked how life had been pre-pandemic, how they experienced the first national lockdown and what the future might hold in store. The data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory. This paper focuses on the importance of family relationships and how they changed as a consequence of the pandemic. We found that the family support system had been interrupted, that there were changes in the methods of support and that feelings of belonging were challenged. We argue that families were brought into disequilibrium through changes in the exchange of inter- and intragenerational support. The important role of grandchildren for older adults was striking and challenged by the pandemic. The significance of social connectedness and support within the family had not changed during the pandemic, but it could no longer be lived in the same way. The desire to be close to family members and to support them conflicted with the risk of pandemic infection. Our study found support for the COVID-19 Social Connectivity Paradox: the need for social connectedness whilst maintaining social distance. This challenged family equilibrium, wellbeing and quality of life in older people.

跨代与同代关系在维持老年人福祉方面的重要性已得到公认。这些关系的核心在于情感与工具性社会支持的交流。然而，关于这种支持交流在广泛破坏背景下的变化，我们所知甚少。COVID-19大流行为我们提供了一个考察老年人家庭关系如何受到此类社会变迁影响的契机。本研究为一项定性研究，探讨英国老年人在COVID-19大流行期间经历的跨代与同代支持的变化。参与者（N=33）通过一项大规模的全国代表性调查（https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/psychology-consortium-covid19）招募。我们询问了他们在大流行前的生活状况，如何经历首次全国封锁，以及未来可能面临的挑战。数据采用建构主义扎根理论进行分析。本文着重探讨家庭关系的重要性及其在大流行背景下的变化。我们发现家庭支持系统受到中断，支持方式发生变化，归属感受到挑战。我们认为，通过跨代与同代支持交流的变化，家庭陷入了失衡状态。孙子孙女对于老年人至关重要的作用引人注目，但大流行对其提出了挑战。在大流行期间，社会联系和家庭内的支持的重要性并未改变，但它们再也无法以同样的方式存在。希望与家人亲近并支持他们的愿望与感染大流行病的风险发生了冲突。我们的研究支持了COVID-19社会联系悖论：在保持社交距离的同时满足社会联系的需求。这挑战了家庭的平衡，影响了老年人的福祉和生活质量。