RACIAL-DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY SUPPORT AND FORMAL SERVICE UTILIZATION AMONG OLDER PERSONS - A NONRECURSIVE MODEL

This research examines the relationship between the utilization of fam ily help with activities of daily living and the use of formal communi ty services among elderly persons for both Blacks and Whites. The anal ysis tests a nonrecursive model proposing a reciprocal relationship be tween the use of family for help with ADL/IADL tasks and the utilizati on of services by race. Two contradictory hypotheses are tested: the ' 'compensatory'' or ''substitution'' hypothesis, which suggests a negat ive reciprocal relationship between the use of informal and formal sup port, and the ''linking'' hypothesis, which indicates a positive recip rocal relationship. A multivariate analysis of data from the 1984 Supp lement on Aging tested these hypotheses. The results fully support the ''substitution'' hypothesis for older Whites, but only partially for older Blacks. Receiving formal services is not associated with lower u se of informal supports among Blacks.