South Asian Older Widows, Abuse Vulnerability, and an Intergenerational Meditation Program: Insights for Gerontological Social Work

This article reports the impact of an Internet-based intergenerational meditation program (I-bIMP) in reducing abuse vulnerability for South Asian older widows and promoting compassion among their young adult grandchildren compared to an inter-generational leisure program (I-bILP), as the active control condition. The I-bIMP was more effective vis-à-vis I-bILP. Dyads that were Hindu, middle class, cohabiting, and who regularly attended at least 80% of both the I-bIMP lessons and home practice, gained more. Actor-partner interdependence analyses indicated that for the I-bIMP dyads, decrease in older widowed grandmothers' perceived vulnerability to abuse was associated with increase in their young adult grandchildren's compassion.