Social relations in older adults: Secular trends and longitudinal changes over a 16-year follow-up.

Drawing on population studies in Finland, we investigated secular trends and longitudinal changes in social relations. The cohort comparison data comprised on 974 persons aged 65-69 years from three cohorts born between 1919 and 1939 and interviewed in 1988, 1996 and 2004. Longitudinal analyses were conducted for 635 persons aged 65-74 years over a 16-year follow-up at three measurement points. Social relations were studied on the basis of frequency seeing one's offspring, perceptions of the sufficiency of these contacts, and by asking whom the participants considered as their closest person and how often and in how many tasks they helped someone. The cohort comparisons showed that the frequency of seeing one's offspring had decreased in the most recent cohort and that the number of contacts was considered more inadequate. Longitudinal analyses showed that although the proportion of children as the closest persons increased, meetings with them became fewer. Helping others was more common in the last cohort, but in the longitudinal analyses it decreased with age. Finnish people at retirement help others more than before, but they do not meet their offspring as often as they would like. Measures are needed for action to promote intergenerational exchange in older adults on both individual and societal level.