Hostname: page-component-745bb68f8f-hvd4g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2025-01-13T11:57:32.377Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Factors associated with attitudes toward the elderly in a sample of elderly caregivers

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 September 2016

Bruna Moretti Luchesi ,
Tiago da Silva Alexandre ,
Nathalia Alves de Oliveira ,
Allan Gustavo Brigola ,
Luciana Kusumota ,
Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini  and
Sueli Marques
Bruna Moretti Luchesi*
Affiliation:
Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil Department of Nursing, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Tiago da Silva Alexandre
Affiliation:
Department of Gerontology, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Nathalia Alves de Oliveira
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Allan Gustavo Brigola
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Luciana Kusumota
Affiliation:
Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
Sofia Cristina Iost Pavarini
Affiliation:
Department of Nursing, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil Department of Gerontology, Federal University of São Carlos, São Carlos, Brazil
Sueli Marques
Affiliation:
Ribeirão Preto School of Nursing, University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, Brazil
*
Correspondence should be addressed to: Bruna Moretti Luchesi, PhD, Universidade de São Paulo - USP, Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, Av. dos Bandeirantes, 3900, Campus Universitário, Bairro Monte Alegre, Ribeirão Preto-SP-Brazil, ZIP: 14040–902. Phone: +55 16 33150534. Email: [email protected].
Get access

Abstract

Background:

The number of elderly caregivers is increasing in the world. It is important to know the attitudes toward the elderly, because they can influence a range of behaviors. Our aim was to determine factors associated with attitudes toward the elderly in a sample of older carers.

Methods:

Three hundred and thirteen elderly caregivers (75.4% women, mean age 69.7 ± 7.1) who cared for a dependent older person at home completed a cross-sectional household interview. In addition to the four domains of the Neri Scale to Assess Attitudes Toward the Elderly, participants were evaluated regarding the demographics, care recipient (CR) characteristics, functional and cognitive status, general health, life satisfaction, perceived stress, and depressive symptoms.

Results:

Overall, attitudes toward the elderly were neutral in this sample. More negative attitudes in some Neri Scale domains were associated with being older, living in an urban setting, taking more medications per day, caring for an elderly dependent in basic Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), being “more or less” satisfied with life, and having higher levels of perceived stress. There was a negative association between positive attitudes and educational level.

Conclusions:

The results highlight the need for public policies to promote more positive attitudes toward aging and change negative stereotypes usually used to designate older people. These public policies can try to modify some predictors of negative attitudes, such as perceived stress, which was associated with all four domains of Neri Scale.

Keywords

carersaged careattitudes to agingpsychological well-being
Type
Research Article
Information
International Psychogeriatrics , Volume 28 , Issue 12 , December 2016 , pp. 2079 - 2089
Copyright
Copyright © International Psychogeriatric Association 2016 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Almeida, O. P. and Almeida, S. A. (1999). Short versions of the geriatric depression scale: a study of their validity for the diagnosis of major depressive episode according to ICD-10 and DSM-IV. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 14, 858–865.Google Scholar
Bertolucci, P. H. F., Brucki, S. M. D., Campacci, S. R. and Juliano, Y. (1994). O Mini-exame do Estado Mental em uma população geral. Impacto da escolaridade. Arquivos Neuropsiquiatria, 52, 1–7.Google Scholar
Bryant, C. et al. (2014). Antecedents of attitudes to aging: a study of the roles of personality and well-being. The Gerontologist. doi: 10.1093/geront/gnu041.Google ScholarPubMed
Bryant, C., Bei, B., Gilson, K., Komiti, A., Jackson, H. and Judd, F. (2012). The relationship between attitudes to aging and physical and mental health in older adults. International Psychogeriatrics, 24, 1674–1683. doi: 10.1017/S1041610212000774.Google Scholar
Chachamovich, E., Fleck, M., Laidlaw, K. and Power, M. (2008). Impact of major depression and subsyndromal symptoms on quality of life and attitudes toward aging in an international sample of older adults. The Gerontologist, 48, 593–602. doi: 10.1093/geront/48.5.593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, N. and Bai, X. (2011). Modernization and its impact on Chinese older people´s perception of their own image and status. International Social Work, 54, 800–815.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chow, N. and Bai, X. (2011). The effects of sociodemographic characteristics on Chinese elders’ perception of the image of ageing. International Journal od Population Research, 11 pages. doi:10.1155/2011/642874.Google Scholar
Janecková, H., Dragomirecká, E., Holmerová, I. and Vanková, H. (2013). The attitudes of older adults living in institutions and their caregivers to ageing. Central European Journal of Public Health, 21, 63–71.Google Scholar
Jang, Y., Poon, L. W., Kim, S. Y. and Shin, B. K. (2004). Self-perception of aging and health among older adults in Korea. Journal of Aging Studies, 18, 485–496. doi: 10.1016/j.jaging.2004.06.001.Google Scholar
Kalfoss, M. H., Low, G. and Molzahn, A. E. (2010). Reliability and validity of the attitudes to ageing questionnaire for Canadian and Norwegian older adults. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 24, 75–85. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2010.00786.x.Google Scholar
Katz, S., Ford, A., Moskowitz, R., Jackson, B. and Jaffe, M. (1963). Studies of Illness in the aged. Journal of the American Medical Association, 185, 94–99.Google Scholar
Laditka, S. B., Fisher, M., Laditka, J. N. and Segal, D. R. (2004). Attitudes about aging and gender among young, middle age, and older college-based students. Educational Gerontology, 30, 403–421. doi: 10.1080/03601270490433602.Google Scholar
Lafferty, A., Fealy, G., Downes, C. and Drennan, J. (2014) Family Carers of Older People: Results of a National Survey of Stress, Conflict and Coping. NCPOP, University College Dublin.Google Scholar
Lai, D. W. L. and Tong, H. (2012). Effects of social exclusion on attitude toward ageing in older adults living alone in Shanghai. Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 7, 88–94.Google Scholar
Lawton, M. P. and Brody, E. M. (1969). Assessment of older people: self-maintaining and instrumental activities of daily living. The Gerontologist, 9, 179–186.Google Scholar
Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D. and Kasl, S. V. (2002). Longitudinal benefit of positive self-perceptions of aging on functional health. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 57B, 409–417.Google Scholar
Loi, S. M. et al. (2015). Attitudes to aging in older carers – do they have a role in their well-being?. International Psychogeriatrics, 1–9. doi: 10.1017/S1041610215000873.Google Scholar
Lu, L., Kao, S. H. and Hsieh, Y. H. (2010). Positive attitudes toward older people and well-being among Chinese community older adults. Journal of Applied Gerontology, 29, 622–639. doi: 10.1177/0733464809343289.Google Scholar
Lucas-Carrasco, R., Laidlaw, K., Gómez-Benito, J. and Power, M. J. (2013). Reliability and validity of the Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire (AAQ) in older people in Spain. International Psychogeriatrics, 25, 490–499. doi: 10.1017/S1041610212001809.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Luft, C. D. B., Sanches, S. O., Mazo, G. Z. and Andrade, A. (2007). Versão brasileira da Escala de Estresse Percebido: tradução e validação para idosos. Revista de Saúde Pública, 41, 606–615.Google Scholar
Momtaz, Y. A., Hamid, T. A., Masud, J., Haron, S. A. and Ibrahim, R. (2013). Dyadic effects of attitude toward aging on psychological well-being of older Malaysian couples: an actor-partner interdependence model. Clinical Interventions in Aging, 8, 1413–1420. doi: 10.2147/CIA.S51877.Google Scholar
National Alliance for Caregiving (2015). Research report: caregiving in the U.S. 2015 – focused look at caregivers of adults age 50+. Available at: http://www.caregiving.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/2015_CaregivingintheUS_Care-Recipients-Over-50_WEB.pdf; last accessed 30 July 2015.Google Scholar
National Centre for the Protection of Older People (2009). Public Perceptions of Older People and Aging: a Literature Review. Available at: http://www.ncpop.ie/Year%201%20Reports/Microsoft%20Word%20-%20NCPOP%20Lit%20Rev%201%20IL%2001_12_09Cover%20inc22_01_10.pdf; last accessed 30 January 2015.Google Scholar
Neri, A. L. (1991). Envelhecer Num País de Jovens: Significados De Velho e Velhice Segundo Brasileiros Não Idosos. Campinas, SP: Editora UNICAMP.Google Scholar
Neri, A. L. (1997). Atitudes em relação à velhice: evidências de pesquisa no Brasil. Gerontologia, 5, 130–139.Google Scholar
Osgood, C. E., Suci, G. J. and Tannenbaum, P. H. (1957). The Measurement of Meaning. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press.Google Scholar
Peron, E. P., Gray, S. L. and Hanlon, J. T. (2011). Medication use and functional status decline in older adults: a narrative review. The American Journal of Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, 9, 378–391. doi: 10.1016/j.amjopharm.2011.10.002.Google Scholar
Pinquart, M. and Sörensen, S. (2007). Correlates of physical health of informal caregivers: a meta-analysis. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 62B, 126–137.Google Scholar
Rosencrantz, H. A. and McNevin, T. E. (1969). A factor analysis of attitudes toward the aged. The Gerontologist, 9, 55–59.Google Scholar
Sarkisian, C. A., Hays, R. D. and Mangione, C. M. (2002). Do older adults expect to age successfully? the association between expectations regarding aging and beliefs regarding healthcare seeking among older adults. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 50, 1837–1843.Google Scholar
Scazufca, M. (2002). Brazilian version of the burden interview scale for the assessment of burden of care in carers of people with mental illnesses. Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, 24, 12–17.Google Scholar
Shenkin, S. D., Laidlaw, K., Allerhand, M., Mead, G. E., Starr, J. M. and Deary, I. J. (2014). Life course influences of physical and cognitive function and personality on attitudes to aging in the Lothian birth cohort 1936. International Psychogeriatrics, 26, 1417–1430. doi: 10.1017/S1041610214000301.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sindi, S., Juster, R. P., Wan, N., Nair, N. P. V., Kin, N. Y. and Lupien, S. J. (2012). Depressive symptoms, cortisol, and cognition during human aging: the role of negative aging perceptions. Stress, 15, 130–137. doi: 10.3109/10253890.2011.599047.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tavares, D. M. S., Bolina, A. F., Dias, F. A., Ferreira, P. C. S. and Haas, V. J. (2014). Quality of life of elderly. Comparison between urban and rural areas. Investigación y Educación en Enfermería, 32, 401–413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thorpe, A. M., Pearson, J. F., Schluter, P. J., Spittlehouse, J. K. and Joyce, P. R. (2014). Attitudes to aging in midlife are related to health conditions and mood. International Psychogeriatrics, 26, 2061–2071. doi: 10.1017/S1041610214001550.Google Scholar
United Nations (2013). World Population Ageing 2013. New York, NY: United Nations: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division.Google Scholar