Curl, AngelaDr. Angela Curl - Assistant Professor, Family Studies And Social Workhttp://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/52742024-03-28T14:12:04Z2024-03-28T14:12:04ZNeighborhood Engagement, Dogs, and Life Satisfaction in Older AdulthoodCurl, Angela L.Bibbo, JessicaJohnson, Rebecca A.http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/66642020-09-16T23:40:17ZNeighborhood Engagement, Dogs, and Life Satisfaction in Older Adulthood
Curl, Angela L.; Bibbo, Jessica; Johnson, Rebecca A.
Objectives: This study examined the relationships between dog ownership, dog walking, and the emotional bond with a dog to neighborhood engagement and life satisfaction among those over age 50.
Methods: Using data from the Health and Retirement Study (N=476), two path analysis models were conducted to test the research hypotheses.
Results: Findings indicated that dog ownership did not have a direct or indirect relationship on life satisfaction. However, time spent in dog walking was associated with frequency of social interactions, which itself had a positive association with life satisfaction. The bond with a dog was not directly associated with life satisfaction but was associated with dog walking.
Discussion: Dog walking is a promising strategy for simultaneously promoting better health and social engagement, and these factors in turn can promote greater life satisfaction of older adults.
Transitioning from Successful Aging: A Life Course ApproachCooney, Teresa M.Curl, Angelahttp://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/61642017-09-26T15:54:29ZTransitioning from Successful Aging: A Life Course Approach
Cooney, Teresa M.; Curl, Angela
Objectives: The life course perspective and representative U.S. data are used to test Rowe and Kahn’s Successful Aging (SA) conceptualization. Four sets of influences (childhood experiences; social structural factors; adult attainments; and later life behaviors) on SA transitions are examined to determine the relative role of structural factors and individual behaviors in SA.
Methods: Eight waves of Health and Retirement Study data for 12,108 respondents, 51 and older, are used in logistic regression models predicting transitions out of SA status.
Results: Social structural factors and childhood experiences had a persistent influence on transitions from SA, even after accounting for adult attainments and late life behaviors—both of which also impact SA outcomes.
Discussion: The findings on sustained social structural influences call into question claims regarding the modifiability of SA outcomes originally made in presentation of the SA model. Implications for policy and the focus and timing of intervention are considered.
Community and Adolescence in Four SocietiesCurl, Angela L.http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/58152016-03-03T18:18:39ZCommunity and Adolescence in Four Societies
Curl, Angela L.
This study disputes the assumption that adolescence is a universal life stage as described by Erikson. Data were collected about twelve communities in four countries: the United States, India, New Zealand, and Romania. The findings suggest that there is a hierarchy of communities and societies, and that adolescence is socially constructed in each of these local settings.
Reshaping retirement policies in post-industrial nations: The need for flexibilityCurl, Angela L.Hokenstad, M. C. "Terry"http://hdl.handle.net/2374.MIA/52842015-09-08T19:52:38ZReshaping retirement policies in post-industrial nations: The need for flexibility
Curl, Angela L.; Hokenstad, M. C. "Terry"
Social Security programs in post-industrial nations are facing the need for policy reforms. Fiscal shortfalls in current Social Security programs are a major driving force promoting these reforms. At the same time, changes in longevity and the nature of work and retirement also suggest the need for policy reform. This article begins with a broad overview of some of the policy innovations of the Europe Union as a whole, and then focuses more in-depth on policy reforms in three countries that exemplify Esping-Andersen’s (1990) typology of welfare states: Sweden, Germany, and Canada. These three countries have passed policies that promote flexibility in retirement for older adults, including “gradual retirement”, “partial retirement”, and credit for caregiving activities. Keeping older adults in the labor force longer retains the tax base of contributors into Social Security as well as allowing those who want to stay in the labor force more choice. The reforms are discussed, along with their potential usefulness for future Social Security policy reforms in the United States.