Older women's organization of friendship support networks: An African American-White American comparison

dResearch of friendship in older people's lives has recently extended to ex amine the impact of social structural factors. This study compared the frie ndship support networks of a small sample of older African and White Americ an women for influences of ethnicity. The comparison used a matched-pair sa mple which controlled for age, marital status, residence type, and disabili ty. Examination of data from the women's diagrams and descriptions of curre nt informal support networks and Friendship life histories indicates ethnic differences in four related areas of friendship network organization: size , composition, recruitment strategies, and opportunities for support exchan ges. Implications fur research and practice are considered.