The purpose of this study was to determine if aging attitudes, informal knowledge and formal education impact Master of Social Work (MSW) student interest in geriatric social work. A total of 70 MSW students participated in this study. The students were recruited from several metropolitan Atlanta MSW programs. A quantitative research design was employed, and surveys were used to gather the data. This study was designed to document the characteristics of MSW students and to predict interest based on perceptions using Ordinal Regression analysis. There was statistical significance identified with the aging attitudes and formal education variables and no statistical significance identified with the informal knowledge variable. The conclusions from this study suggest continued research regarding the factors influencing interest in geriatric social work.

Sexuality is being recognized by the medical community as an increasingly important factor for well-being in older adults. Age and well-being are important factors that contribute to older adults’ sexuality. Subjective age and attitudes towards aging are known to impact physical and mental wellness for adults over 40. However, there is no research that looks at the impact of subject age and aging attitudes on older adult sexuality. This secondary analysis of longitudinal Mid-Life in the United States (MIDUS) study data will explore the relationship between subjective age and attitudes toward aging from MIDUS Wave I on sexual activity, frequency of sex, quality of sex, and interest in sex, among adults 40 and older from MIDUS Wave II. Data were analyzed to determine the relationship between the independent variables subjective age and aging expectations on the four dependent sexuality variables.The interaction terms subjective age by aging expectations, subjective age by gender, aging expectations by gender. A three way interaction between subjective age, aging expectations, and gender was also included in the analyses.Subjective age was significantly associated with quality of sex and interest in sex such that the older people felt, the less likely they were to rate their sex life positively or put much thought and/or effort into sex. Aging expectations were significantly associated with quality of sex such that the worse people felt about getting old, the less likely they were to have good quality sex later in life. Neither subjective age nor aging expectations had an impact on the behavioural variables number of sex partners and frequency of sex. None of the interaction terms tested were statistically significant. As such, people who feel better about aging and who feel younger than their actual age are more likely to rate the quality of the sexual aspects of their lives positively and are also more likely to put thought and effort into their sex lives.

Sexuality is being recognized by the medical community as an increasingly important factor for well-being in older adults. Age and well-being are important factors that contribute to older adults’ sexuality. Subjective age and attitudes towards aging are known to impact physical and mental wellness for adults over 40. However, there is no research that looks at the impact of subject age and aging attitudes on older adult sexuality. This secondary analysis of longitudinal Mid-Life in the United States (MIDUS) study data will explore the relationship between subjective age and attitudes toward aging from MIDUS Wave I on sexual activity, frequency of sex, quality of sex, and interest in sex, among adults 40 and older from MIDUS Wave II. Data were analyzed to determine the relationship between the independent variables subjective age and aging expectations on the four dependent sexuality variables.The interaction terms subjective age by aging expectations, subjective age by gender, aging expectations by gender. A three way interaction between subjective age, aging expectations, and gender was also included in the analyses.Subjective age was significantly associated with quality of sex and interest in sex such that the older people felt, the less likely they were to rate their sex life positively or put much thought and/or effort into sex. Aging expectations were significantly associated with quality of sex such that the worse people felt about getting old, the less likely they were to have good quality sex later in life. Neither subjective age nor aging expectations had an impact on the behavioural variables number of sex partners and frequency of sex. None of the interaction terms tested were statistically significant. As such, people who feel better about aging and who feel younger than their actual age are more likely to rate the quality of the sexual aspects of their lives positively and are also more likely to put thought and effort into their sex lives.

Emerging evidence suggests that people not only categorize themselves and others based on age but also in terms of their generational membership. This cross-cultural study compared attitudes and stereotypes toward age and generational groups across the life span in China, Germany, and the United States including 1,112 participants between 18 and 86 years of age. We asked younger, middle-aged, and older respondents to rate either six age groups (e.g., adolescents, young adults, middle-aged adults, young-old, older, and old-old adults) or six matching generational groups (e.g., Generation Z, Millennials, Generation X, Baby Boomer, Silent Generation, and Greatest Generation) on various characteristics (e.g., happy, competent, selfish). Consistent with our hypotheses, the results demonstrate that across all three countries older generations were perceived consistently more positive, whereas older age groups were perceived as less positive. These findings suggest that generations represent a source of positive regard and high social status in later life across different countries with different historical backgrounds and cultures.

Orientador: Anita Liberalesso Neri / Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Educação / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-07T12:10:34Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Resende_MarineiaCrosarade_D.pdf: 1932037 bytes, checksum: 146e7eeb9e0d07ea1d2854b074c8c52c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2006 / Resumo: Foram investigadas relações entre senso de ajustamento psicológico, perspectiva de velhice e satisfação com a vida em adultos e idosos com deficiência física. Materiais e Método: Participaram 90 pessoas, de ambos os sexos, com idade entre 25 e 84 anos (M = 42,49 anos + 12,27), que responderam aos instrumentos: Questionários sociodemografico, sobre a deficiência física, o grau de incapacidade e as estratégias de manejo; Inventário Sheppard de Atitudes em Relação à Velhice Pessoal; escalas de satisfação global referenciada a domínios e a critérios temporais e de comparação social; Escala de Desenvolvimento Pessoal (ajustamento psicológico). Resultados: A maioria relatou incapacidade moderada para o desempenho de atividades cotidianas, necessidade de ajuda, principalmente de familiares, e uso de estratégias compensatórias. As mulheres apresentaram mais dificuldades para realizar atividades cotidianas e mais necessidade de ajuda. Os idosos apresentaram mais dificuldades para tarefas domésticas. Os índices de ajustamento pessoal foram de moderados a altos, mas as mulheres pontuaram mais baixo. Para toda a amostra, quanto maior o senso de ajustamento, mais positiva a perspectiva de velhice pessoal. Os escores de satisfação foram altos na presença de todos os critérios. Os mais novos, mais independentes e mais ajustados eram os mais satisfeitos. Os com deficiência congênita e os mais ajustados psicologicamente mostraram perspectivas mais positivas de velhice pessoal. Conclusão: Envelhecer com uma deficiência física é um processo que exige competência adaptativa e resiliência frente aos eventos de vida e aos desafios acarretados pela deficiência / Abstract: We carried out an investigation to analyze the relationships between perceived psychological adjustment, perspective of personal aging and life satisfaction in adult and aged people with physical disability. Materials and Method: 90 participants, both genders, aged 25 to 84 (M = 42,49 + 12,27), answered questionnaires asking for information on socio demographic characteristics, impairment, degree of disability and behavioral efforts to manage disability; the Sheppard Inventory of attitudes toward own aging; measures of global life satisfaction and satisfaction with physical and mental health, physical and mental ability and social involvement, all them referenced to temporal and social comparison criteria, and a scale assessing perceived psychological adjustment. Results: The majority of the participants reported moderate disability affecting their independence and determining necessity of help, usually from the family. The majority reported the adoption of compensatory strategies. The women reported more difficulty to accomplish daily activities, as well as the oldest to perform domestic tasks, and both reported more demand for help. The indexes of personal adjustment were moderate and high. The women had the lowest scores. There were observed positive correlations between positive psychological adjustment and positive attitudes toward own aging. The satisfaction scores were high in the presence of all of the criteria. The youngest and the more independent were the ones who reported more life satisfaction. Those that had congenital disability and reported higher psychological adjustment showed more positive perspectives of personal aging. Conclusion: Aging with physical disability is a complex process that demands adaptive competence, and resilience to cope with life events and the personal, social and environmental challenges produced by disability / Doutorado / Psicologia, Desenvolvimento Humano e Educação / Doutor em Educação

Successful aging is increasingly topical issue given the rapidly aging population and it is therefore crucial to deal with the way the old people adapt to the coming age, and whether there is some way we can be prepared for it. Model coping with life's problems - selection, optimization and compensation is a lifelong adaptation strategy, which currently in old age leads to successful aging. Besides adaptation are important attitudes towards aging and old age, that have an impact on senior's self-esteem. The main goal of this thesis was to analyze attitudes towards age and the use of model coping with life problems in a sample of younger and older Czech seniors using questionnaires SOC and AAQ. The research had a qualitative aspect, which focused on mapping the topic of retirement planning and strategies for successful aging. It turned out that the younger and older seniors differ from each other only in the use of the strategy chosen selection, in other strategies there was no difference between age groups. In the area of attitudes to each other, age groups also did not differ. The results also show that between using SOC strategies and their own attitude to old age, there is no relationship. Seniors recommend to young people and to their peers to think of their health, maintain good relationships...