Troubled Relationships in Later Life: Implications for Support

The personal relationships on which social support depends can become strained, problematic and antagonistic in later life. This paper explores how older support recipients themselves influence that social process, for better or worse. New data are presented regarding the nature and extent of interpersonal betrayal in the social networks of older adults that could destabilize family relationships and their social support functions. Respondents reported having betrayed 14 percent, and having been betrayed by 19 percent of the persons in their immediate support networks. In many cases, the event had occurred much earlier in their life, but had retained its symbolic impact across a lifetime.