INTERGENERATIONAL DAYCARE AND PRESCHOOLERS' ATTITUDES ABOUT AGING

The evidence that intergenerational contact influences children's attitudes about the elderly or aging, in either a positive or negative manner, is mixed. In an attempt to shed light on this issue, perceptions of the elderly were assessed for 33 3-to 5- year-old children enrolled in either an intergenerational daycare program or a daycare program without an intergenerational curriculum. The Children's Attitudes Toward the Elderly (CATE) and a measure of perceived ability to participate in activities (Activity Scale) were used to examine the influence of an intergenerational daycare program on preschool children's attitudes. Program-related differences in attitudes about aging or the elderly were expected, but, overall, the two groups were very similar. In general, children rated older adults less positively than they did younger adults, and they believed that older adults could participate in fewer activities than children could. Longitudinal studies of intergenerational programs, especially programs with an aging education curriculum, are needed to further illuminate the effects of intergenerational contact on children's attitudes.     

Assessing positive attitudes toward older and younger adults

Meaningful intergenerational interactions between older and younger adults are rare outside of family relationships. Interventions to increase positive intergenerational interactions are growing, but finding appropriate measures of attitudes toward both younger and older age groups is difficult. Many measures assessing attitudes toward older adults can remind participants of negative stereotypes of aging and are rarely used to assess attitudes toward younger adults. We adapted Pittinsky, Rosenthal, and Montoya’s allophilia measure to assess attitudes toward younger (18–25 years old) and older (over age 65) adults. In the first study, 94 traditional college age and 52 older adults rated older and younger adults. The allophilia measure distinguished between younger and older adults’ attitudes toward each age group. In the second study, we compared the age-related allophilia measures with seven traditional measures of attitudes toward older adults. Forty-seven traditional college age students completed measures. As predicted, correlations between allophilia toward older adults and the traditional semantic differential measures were weak (i.e., r = |0.15|or less), whereas correlations with general attitudes toward older adults were more moderate (r = 0.59 or less). Correlations between allophilia toward younger adults and the traditional measures were primarily non-significant as predicted. The allophilia measure differentiated between the five domains of positive attitudes toward younger and older adults and was not highly correlated with measures of more negative attitudes toward older adults. Results suggest that the allophilia measure can fill a need for a measure of positive attitudes toward older and younger adults.     

Is There a Double Standard of Aging?: Older Men and Women and Ageism

This study was designed to determine current young adults' attitudes toward older adults and to explore, more specifically, whether they hold different attitudes towards older men and women. An additional objective was to examine the association between knowledge of aging processes and attitudes towards older adults. A total of 405 (210 males, 195 females) undergraduate students at a small Midwestern university were assessed on their attitudes toward an older male and an older female and on their knowledge of aging. Data analyses revealed that the participants showed more positive, rather than negative, attitudes towards older adults, and they rated older women significantly more positively than older men. No relationship was found between knowledge of aging processes and attitudes toward aging. Implications of these findings are discussed.     

Attitudes toward Older Workers among Undergraduates: Does Status Make a Difference?

Most research on attitudes toward older adults does not address subgroups of older adults. This study evaluated whether attitudes among undergraduates towards older professionals were more positive than those toward older adults in general. A 2 × 2 factorial design with the covariate of knowledge of aging was used with measures from two attitude scales. Independent variables were the priming target of older adults in general or older professionals and the order of administration of the two attitude scales with a sample of 107 undergraduates. The covariate was significant for three of the four dependent measures. The scale specifically developed for attitudes toward older workers showed a significant difference between the priming instruction groups, with more positive attitudes toward older professionals. Significant interactions in the same direction were noted for two of the other scales: Avoidance and Discrimination. The results suggest that professional status does provide one case in which negative attitudes among undergraduates toward older workers and adults in general may not hold.     

Racial differences in attitudes toward aging,aging knowledge,and contact

The present study assessed knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults in a sample of 271 Non-Hispanic White and African-American undergraduates. Research examining racial differences in knowledge of aging, attitudes toward aging, ageism, and contact with older adults has been sparse. Results for the current study demonstrated a significant correlation between knowledge of aging measured by the Facts on Aging Quiz-Revised (FAQ-R) and attitudes toward aging measured by the Aging Semantic Differential (ASD) for Non-Hispanic Whites but not African-Americans. In contrast, correlations between the FAQ-R and the Fraboni Scale of Ageism (FSA) were significant for both groups. Significant group differences were also noted for the ASD-total score and ASD-Instrumentality subscale as well as for the FSA-total score, Antilocution, and Discrimination subscales. Discussion focuses on the importance of identifying cultural and contextual factors that have been neglected in the “one size fits all” approach to promoting more positive attitudes toward older adults across different racial and ethnic groups.     

KNOWLEDGE OF AND ATTITUDES TOWARD AGING IN YOUNG,MIDDLE‐AGED,AND OLDER COLLEGE STUDENTS: A COMPARISON OF TWO MEASURES OF KNOWLEDGE OF AGING

Scores on two measures of knowledge of aging were compared and correlated with direct and indirect measures of attitudes toward aging. Knowledge scores were not strongly related (r = .2‐.3) to either indirect or direct measures of attitudes toward older adults, and scores on the knowledge tests were not strongly correlated with each other (r = .25). In general, older subjects had higher knowledge scores and more positive attitude scores than did younger subjects. The age effect for knowledge remained after attitude was controlled. Suggestions for improving tests of general knowledge of aging are offered.     

ATTITUDES TOWARD THE ELDERLY: AN INTERGENERATIONAL EXAMINATION

The relationship between children's attitudes toward older people and older people's perception of children's attitudes toward them were examined using the Attitude Perception Questionnaire. Results were analyzed for 52 fifth‐ and sixth‐grade children and 52 older adults, and comparisons made on the basis of age, sex and amount of intergenerational contact. Older adults perceptions of children's attitudes toward them were more negative than the children's actual attitudes. Implications for persons involved in planning and implementing intergenerational programs are discussed.     

Endurance of Undergraduate Attitudes Toward Older Adults

This cross-sectional study assessed undergraduate attitudes toward older adults and attitude endurance 3 to 18 months after aging coursework. Survey respondents included 349 students who took an aging elective and 430 comparison students. Aging-elective students indicated more positive attitudes than comparison students. Attitudes did not vary across 3 groups staggered by time elapsed from completing the course until testing (3 to 18 months). 4 variables accounted for the variance in attitudes toward elders at a statistically significant level: majoring in biology, having frequent or occasional contact with unrelated older adults, taking an aging course, and post-course knowledge of aging.     

Attitudes,perceptions, and aging knowledge of future law enforcement and recreation majors

The present study assessed knowledge of aging, ageism, and attitudes toward aging in undergraduate recreation and law enforcement majors. Past research with psychology, social work, and nursing majors showed that greater knowledge of aging was related to fewer ageist attitudes and beliefs. The results showed that law enforcement students possessed greater knowledge of aging, and endorsed fewer ageist attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes than recreation majors. Correlations between knowledge of aging and subscales of the Fraboni Scale of Ageism were significant for both groups. Group differences were also noted on the ASD-Instrumentality subscale and FSA Discrimination subscale. The results suggest that the infusion of information on growth and development through the lifecycle was not evident for recreation majors. Discussion focuses on the importance of incorporating information about adulthood and aging and identifying other factors that may promote more positive attitudes toward older adults in these majors.     

Ageism and aging anxiety among young adults: relationships with contact,knowledge, fear of death,and optimism

ABSTRACT

Ageism refers to discrimination against individuals based on age, while aging anxiety is defined as fear about getting older. We were interested in whether ageism and aging anxiety had distinct correlates among young adults. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects that knowledge of aging, contact with older adults, fear of death, and optimism have on ageism and aging anxiety in young adults (N = 623). Knowledge of aging and contact with older adults were associated with lower ageism. Aging anxiety was associated with greater fear of death and lower optimism. Results indicate that the positive effects of contact and knowledge on the attitudes of young adults toward the older adult population. Increased education on the aging process and improving quality of contact with older adults could help reduce ageism and ageing anxiety.     

Development and validation of ageist myths in a psychotherapy questionnaire (AMPQ): professional ageism among psychology graduate students

ABSTRACT

Ageism is a problem in aging societies. Clinical psychologists and undergraduate psychology students have shown negative attitudes toward older adults. However, no speci?c measure against ageist myths in the psychotherapeutic context is available. This study aims to develop and present the psychometric properties of the Ageist Myths about Psychotherapy Questionnaire (AMPQ).

These issues were examined by surveying 222 psychology graduates at higher education institutions about their attitudes and behaviors concerning psychotherapy with older adults, negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Using principal components analysis, 10 items were retained and one factor was obtained with an acceptable reliability index. Signi?cant associations were found between the AMPQ and negative stereotypes toward aging, and attitudes toward dementia.

Results revealed that universities and colleges with psychology programs have an ageist bias. Implications for college formation in aging, and older adults with mental health problems, are discussed and presented.     

PARTICIPATION IN A COURSE ON AGING: KNOWLEDGE,ATTITUDES, AND ANXIETY ABOUT AGING IN ONESELF AND OTHERS

Knowledge, anxiety, and attitudes about older adults and one's own aging were assessed in 256 college students. The Facts on Aging Quiz (Palmore, 1988), the Knowledge of Aging and the Elderly Quiz (Kline, Scialfa, Stier, & Babbitt, 1990), the Anxiety about Aging Scale (Lasher & Faulkender, 1993) and the Aging Semantic Differential (Rosencranz & McNevin, 1969) were administered at the end of the semester to students enrolled in an upper level psychology course on aging and students enrolled in an introductory psychology course (who had never had a course on aging). Comparisons of those finishing the psychology of aging course and those never having taken a course on aging revealed significant differences in knowledge of aging and the elderly and attitudes toward the average 70-year-old. Interestingly, the two groups of students did not differ in personal anxiety about aging and attitudes about one's own aging. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to attitudinal judgments of oneself versus others and the differential benefits of education for attitudes and anxiety about other old adults versus attitudes and anxiety about one's own aging.     

Older adult entrepreneurs as mentors of young people neither in employment nor education and training (NEETs). Evidences from multi-country intergenerational learning program

ABSTRACT

Population aging is exacerbating the loss of competences in the workforce and simultaneously young people neither in employment nor in education and training (NEETs) are struggling to be reengaged in employment. These issues, which are deemed priorities for the European policy agenda, could be addressed by triggering active aging dimensions, valuing and exploiting older adult entrepreneurs’ knowledge for enhancing youngsters’ entrepreneurial attitudes, through mentoring. This paper reports the results of a study based on an intergenerational learning program, carried out in 2018 in Germany, Italy and Slovenia. The study was aimed at developing and testing one training on mentoring addressing 41 older adult entrepreneurs (55 and over), and two intergenerational learning trainings aiming at boosting entrepreneurial competences of 33 NEETs (aged 18–29). The impact of the program on older adult entrepreneurs and NEETs was assessed through a pre and post-evaluation using qualitative and quantitative tools. Findings at country level were treated as national case-studies and then the latter were compared by considering them as a multiple embedded case-study. Results indicated that, to different extent in the study countries, mentors learned and enhanced mentoring competences, e.g. active listening and the capability of orienting, improved well-being and self-esteem, social inclusion and active aging attitude. Moreover, NEETs acquired entrepreneurial and socio-relational competences by benefiting from the full exploitation of mentors’ know-how and the trust relationship with them. Companies, trade unions, educational and voluntary organizations should cooperate to adopt intergenerational learning programs as good practices for older adults and NEETs’ lifelong learning promotion.     

TEACHING ABOUT AGING IN THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL: A ONE‐YEAR FOLLOW‐UP

This study followed up on a 7‐day, 5th‐grade intergenerational project on aging. The “Age Doesn't Matter” (ADM) project was interdisciplinary; incorporating dance, health education, history, art, and poetry to teach about growing older. Older adults came to the school to interact with the students and the students also went on field trips to a nursing home and a retirement hotel. Thirteen of the original 19 ADM students were still in the same school 1 year after the project's completion. These students were matched by grade, gender, and race with a comparison group (n = 13) one year after the project's completion. Three experts in the field of gerontology were asked to blindly review the students' responses to open‐ended questions about aging and to rate each student concerning his or her attitudes toward aging. The ADM students were judged to have significantly (p < .05) more positive attitudes toward aging than the comparison group students.     

EFFECTS OF AN INTERGENERATIONAL FRIENDLY VISIT PROGRAM ON THE ATTITUDES OF FOURTH GRADERS TOWARD ELDERS

This article describes the effects of an intergenerational friendly visit program on the attitudes toward the elders of one fourth grade class. Students visited with their elder "special friends" at a nursing home every week for five months. In-class lessons regarding students' knowledge and attitudes toward elders prepared students for the visits. The results of this qualitative study indicated that students gained a raised level of awareness regarding elders and the aging process. Their attitudes revealed a realistic view of both the positive and negative aspects of aging. Their attitudes toward their "special friends" were consistently positive and their empathy increased during the course of the study.     

TURKISH AND U.S. ATTITUDES TOWARD AGING

As people live longer and the number of older adults increases worldwide, it becomes important to understand the factors that influence how we understand and perceive our own aging as well as how we construct our attitudes toward older adults. Although studies have indicated that later adulthood can be a healthy, productive, and satisfying time of life, ageism or prejudice and discrimination against older adults and a fear of the aging process, continues to be a widespread phenomena. The purpose of this study was to compare attitudes and anxieties toward aging of young and middle-aged men and women from the United States and Turkey. The results indicate that significant country and gender differences exist in how people feel about getting older and the age at which they consider themselves to be “old.” Contact with elders as well as education regarding the process of aging appear to have a significant impact on attitudes toward aging.     

Making connections: students’ reflection on aging competency approach in gerontology education

The increase of the US older adult population requires additional professionally trained staff in health and social services. Exposing knowledge and skills of gerontology to address aging competency among student in higher education can better prepare for students’ future educational and career planning. The aim of this study is to understand students’ reflections on an aging competency approach in an Introduction to Gerontology online class. Students’ reflections revealed insights including the increase of aging knowledge and skills, empathic understanding increased through a self-awareness approach, attitudes changed toward older adults, impact of experiential interviews on students’ understanding of aging. The implementation of a combined pedagogy in course construction will be discussed.     

Undergraduate Students' Perceptions and Behaviors Related to the Aged and to Aging Processes

Aging education is relatively new to the university, and our understanding of the perspectives students bring to aging populations is correspondingly limited. This investigation surveys 546 students at a midsized, Midwestern university to explore students' views toward elders, toward serving elders, and toward the relevance of aging education for various other areas of study. Our results suggest generally favorable attitudes: older students and students with greater contact with aging populations were more positive than their counterparts; gender, GPA, and aging courses taken showed sporadic or no effects on various attitudes. These preliminary findings offer a baseline for future investigations. Our findings suggest that students who have more contact through friendship and volunteer experiences have more positive attitudes toward working with older adults. Additional research is needed to examine if type of gerontological instruction is associated with attitudes toward aging and aging education.     

Intergenerational solidarity in triads of adult grandchild,parent, and grandparent: the positive view of elders,positive expectations towards the future and young-elders divide

ABSTRACT

Introduction

The remarkable growth of older adults represents a challenge for our societies.

The population of aging requires adjustments that sometimes are difficult to achieve for already stressed welfare systems. In this context, intergenerational solidarity may play a central role. Demographic shifts over the past century have also increased the percentage of grandchildren who, as young adults, have living grandparents. Adult grandchildren could become an important source of intergenerational solidarity, but few studies have explored intergenerational relations, including grandparents, adult children, and adult grandchildren. None to our knowledge have examined which aspects of intergenerational solidarity affect the positive view of elders, positive expectations toward the future, and old-young divides.     

HEALTH CARE EDUCATORS’ KNOWLEDGE AND ATTITUDES REGARDING SEXUALITY IN THE AGED

Health care providers’ knowledge of and attitudes toward sexuality in older adults may have an impact on the overall quality of care they provide to older clients. One place to begin improving the knowledge and attitudes of health care professionals may be health care educators. If educators have accurate knowledge and positive attitudes, they can help their students acquire accurate knowledge and develop positive attitudes. Forty‐two health care educators in a large community college completed a sexuality knowledge and attitude scale. The study attempted to determine the extent of the educators’ knowledge of sexuality in the aged, their attitudes toward it, the relationship between sexual knowledge and attitudes, and the relationship of knowledge and attitudes to certain personal / demographic variables and professional / experiential factors. The results indicated that the health care educators had limited knowledge regarding aged sexuality but held positive attitudes toward it. No significant relationship was found between knowledge and attitudes. Older health care educators and educators who had participated in continuing education related to sexuality possessed more knowledge about aged sexuality. Educators who rated themselves as more religious held more restrictive attitudes.