The Complexity of Interpersonal Relationships Among Older Persons

The interplay in the identification of emotionally close relationships was examined using 1071 participants in a Senior Citizens Nutrition and Activities Program. A crosstabular analysis revealed the following: (A) those who reported an emotionally close relationship with a child also reported emotional closeness with a spouse but not with a friend; (9) those with no children were more likely to indicate emotional closeness with friends than did those with children; (C) those with no friends were more likely to express emotional closeness with a child but no such closeness wilh a spouse; and (D) those with a greater number of children reported emotional closeness with at least one child. Closeness with friends was not related to the number of friends one had. The implications of these findings are considered both in terms of theory and application.