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.

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.

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.

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.

Attitudes to aging have been investigated in non-carer populations and found to have important relationships with physical and mental health. However, these have not been explored in an older carer sample, although it is becoming increasingly important to clarify variables which are linked with positive carer outcomes. This is one of the first studies to report on older carers, their attitudes to aging, and the relationship with carer-related factors.

A cross-sectional study of 202 carers with a mean age of 70.8 years was conducted in Victoria, Australia, using carer demographic data, carer factors such as depression (using the Geriatric Depression Scale), burden (using the Zarit Burden Inventory, ZBI), physical health, personality, and attitudes to aging (using the Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire, AAQ). Spearman rank correlation and hierarchical regression analyses were used.

This study showed that carers had overall positive attitudes to aging inspite of their caring role. It also identified that carer factors including depression and burden contributed a significant amount of the variance to attitudes to aging in terms of physical change and psychosocial loss. Personality traits, specifically neuroticism, and extraversion, were also important contributors to attitudes to aging.

Results from this study demonstrated that inspite of moderate levels of depression and spending significant time caring, carers reported positive attitudes to aging. Treating depression, decreasing burden, and investigating the benefits of caring may assist older carers maintain their well-being.

Reports of attitudes to aging from older people themselves are scarce. Which life course factors predict differences in these attitudes is unknown.

We investigated life course influences on attitudes to aging in healthy, community-dwelling people in the UK. Participants in the Lothian Birth Cohort 1936 completed a self-report questionnaire (Attitudes to Aging Questionnaire, AAQ) at around age 75 (n = 792, 51.4% male). Demographic, social, physical, cognitive, and personality/mood predictors were assessed, around age 70. Cognitive ability data were available at age 11.

Generally positive attitudes were reported in all three domains: low Psychosocial Loss, high Physical Change, and high Psychological Growth. Hierarchical multiple regression found that demographic, cognitive, and physical variables each explained a relatively small proportion of the variance in attitudes to aging, with the addition of personality/mood variables contributing most significantly. Predictors of attitudes to Psychosocial Loss were high neuroticism; low extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; high anxiety and depression; and more physical disability. Predictors of attitudes to Physical Change were: high extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness; female sex; social class; and less physical disability. Personality predictors of attitudes to Psychological Growth were similar. In contrast, less affluent environment, living alone, lower vocabulary scores, and slower walking speed predicted more positive attitudes in this domain.

Older people's attitudes to aging are generally positive. The main predictors of attitude are personality traits. Influencing social circumstances, physical well-being, or mood may result in more positive attitudes. Alternatively, interventions to influence attitudes may have a positive impact on associated physical and affective changes.