Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-tj2md Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T02:25:31.669Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Beliefs about Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease in Three Domains*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 December 2010

Tiana B. Rust  and
Sheree T. Kwong See
Tiana B. Rust*
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
Sheree T. Kwong See
Affiliation:
University of Alberta
*
†Correspondence and requests for offprints should be sent to / La correspondance et les demandes de tirés-à-part doivent être adressées à: Tiana Rust, M.Sc., P217 Biological Sciences Bldg, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada, T6G 2E9 (rust@ualberta.ca)
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This repeated measures study examined undergraduate students’ beliefs about aging and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in the cognitive, social, and physical domains. Students rated typical 25-year-olds (young target), typical 75-year-olds (old target), and typical institutionalized persons with AD (AD target) on 46 statements about cognitive, physical, and social abilities. Beliefs about aging were found to be generally negative in the cognitive and physical domains but positive in the social domain, consistent with the age-stereotyping literature. Interestingly, by comparing ratings of old and AD targets, beliefs were found to be generally negative in the cognitive and social domains but positive in the physical domain. AD is perceived to be a disease primarily of the mind, but in comparison to differences expected with aging, physical prowess is enhanced. Documenting beliefs, a first step toward modifying stereotyped behaviour, could have significant effects on the health and well-being of older adults and persons with AD.

Résumé

Cette étude des mesures répétées a examiné les croyances des étudiants de premier cycle concernant le vieillissement et la maladie d’Alzheimer (MA) dans les domaines cognitifs, physiques et socials. Les étudiants ont evalué les personnes typiques de 25 ans (cible jeune), les personnes typiques de 75 ans (cible vieux), et les personnes institutionnalisées typiques avec MA (MA cible) sur 46 déclarations sur les capacités cognitives, physiques et sociaux. Croyances sur le vieillissement se sont avérés pour être généralement négative dans les domaines cognitifs et physiques mais positive dans le domaine social, ce qui est compatible avec la littérature des stéréo-types de l’âge. La maladie d’Alzheimer est perçu comme une maladie essentiellement de l’esprit, mais on croit, qu’en comparaison avec les différences prévues au vieillissement, que la prouesse physique est renforcée. Documenter les croyances, un premier pas vers la modification des comportements stéréotypes, pourrait avoir des effets significatifs sur la santé et le bien-être des personnes agées et des personnes atteintes de MA.

Keywords

croyances sur le vieillissementcroyances sur la maladie d’Alzheimerstéréotypes de l’âgeBeliefs about agingbeliefs about Alzheimer’s diseaseage stereotyping
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 29 , Issue 4 , December 2010 , pp. 567 - 575
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 2010

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.)

Footnotes

*

These data formed T. Rust’s master’s thesis, and some of these data were previously presented at the Annual Meeting of the Canadian Association on Gerontology in Halifax, NS (October 2005). This research was supported by Alzheimer Care Research Grant G599000875 to T. Rust and S. Kwong See; Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council G124130227 to S. Kwong See; and Dr. Peter N. McCracken Legacy Scholarship, Gyro Club of Edmonton Graduate Scholarship, and Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada Graduate Scholarship to T. Rust. We thank Sharon So and Stephanie Heath for their assistance with data entry.

References

Alzheimer Society of Canada. (2010). Disease statistics. Retrieved January 24, 2010, from http://www.alzheimer.ca/english/disease/stats-intro.htmGoogle Scholar
Baltes, M.M., & Carstensen, L.L. (1996). The process of successful aging. Ageing & Society, 16, 397–422.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barrett, A.E., & Cantwell, L.E. (2007). Drawing on stereotypes: Using undergraduates’ sketches of elders as a teaching tool. Educational Gerontology, 33, 327–348.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cumming, E., & Henry, W.E. (1961). Growing old: The process of disengagement. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Cummings, S., Cassie, K., Galambos, C., & Wilson, E. (2006). Impact of an infusion model on social work students’ aging knowledge, attitudes, and interests. Journal of Gerontological Social Work, 47, 173–186.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giardina-Roche, C., & Black, M.E.A. (1990). Attitudes of diploma student nurses toward adult clients. Journal of Nursing Education, 29, 208–214.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Giles, H., Ryan, E.B., & Anas, A.P. (2008). Perceptions of intergenerational communication by young, middle-aged, and older Canadians. Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science, 40, 121–130.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Guo, X., Erber, J.T., & Szuchman, L.T. (1999). Age and forgetfulness: Can stereotypes be modified? Educational Gerontology, 25, 457–466.Google Scholar
Heckhausen, J., Dixon, R.A., & Baltes, P.B. (1989). Gains and losses in development throughout adulthood as perceived by different adult age groups. Developmental Psychology, 25, 109–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henderson, J., Xiao, L., Kelton, M., Paterson, J., & Siegloff, L. (2008). ‘Older people have lived their lives’: First year nursing students’ attitudes towards older people. Contemporary Nurse, 30, 32–45.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hummert, M.L., Garstka, T.A., Shaner, J.L., & Strahm, S. (1995). Judgments about stereotypes of the elderly: Attitudes, age associations, and typicality ratings of young, middle-aged and elderly adults. Research on Aging, 17, 168–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kahana, E., Kinney, J.M., Kercher, K., Kahana, B., Tinsley, V.V., King, C., et al. (1996). Predictors of attitudes toward three target groups of elderly persons: The well, the physically ill, and patients with Alzheimer’s disease. Journal of Aging and Health, 8, 27–53.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kite, M.E., & Johnson, B.T. (1988). Attitudes toward older and younger adults: A meta-analysis. Psychology and Aging, 3, 232–234.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kite, M.E., Stockdale, G.D., Whitley, B.E. Jr., & Johnson, B.T. (2005). Attitudes toward older and younger adults: An updated meta-analysis. Journal of Social Issues, 61, 241–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwong See, S.T., & Heller, R. (2004). Judging older targets’ discourse: How do age stereotypes influence evaluations. Experimental Aging Research, 30, 63–73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kwong See, S.T., & Heller, R. (2005). Measuring ageism in children. In Palmore, E., Branch, L., & Harris, D. (Eds.), The encyclopedia of ageism (pp. 210–217). Binghamton, NY: Haworth Press.Google Scholar
Kwong See, S.T., Hoffman, H.G., & Wood, T. (2001). Perceptions of an elderly eyewitness: Is the older eyewitness believable? Psychology and Aging, 16, 346–350.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kwong See, S.T., & Ryan, E.B. (1999). Intergenerational communication: The survey interview as a social exchange. In Schwarz, N., Park, D., Knauper, B., & Sudman, S. (Eds.), Aging, cognition, and self-reports (pp. 245–262). Philadelphia: Psychology Press.Google Scholar
Learman, L.A., Avorn, J., Everitt, D.E., & Rosenthal, R. (1990). Pygmalion in the nursing home: The effects of caregiver expectations on patient outcomes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 38, 797–803.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, M.M., Carpenter, B., & Meyers, L.S. (2007). Representations of older adults in television advertisements. Journal of Aging Studies, 21, 23–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lee, S.Y., Hoerr, S.L., Weatherspoon, L., & Schiffman, R.F. (2008). Nutrition students improve attitudes after a guided experiential assignment with older adults. Journal of Nutrition Education & Behavior, 40(5), 279–287.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levin, J., & Levin, W.C. (1980). Ageism: Prejudice and discrimination toward the elderly. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
Levy, B.R. (2003). Mind matters: Cognitive and physical effects of aging self-stereotypes. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Science, 58, 203–211.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, B.R., Slade, M.D., & Gill, T. (2006). Hearing decline predicted by elders’ age stereotypes. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 61, 82–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levy, B.R., Slade, M.D., Kunkel, S.R., & Kasl, S.V. (2002). Longevity increased by positive self-perceptions of aging. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 83, 261–270.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Levy, B.R., Zonderman, A.B., Slade, M.D., & Ferrucci, L., (2009). Age stereotypes held earlier in life predict cardiovascular events in later life. Psychological Science, 20, 296–298.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Nunnally, J.C., & Bernstein, I.H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Palmore, E. (1990). Ageism: Negative and positive. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Rader, J. (1995). Individualized dementia care: Creative compassionate approaches. New York: Springer Publishing.Google Scholar
Rosencranz, H.A., & McNevin, T.E. (1969). A factor analysis of attitudes toward the aged. The Gerontologist, 9, 55–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rowe, J., & Kahn, R. (1998). Successful aging. New York: Random House.Google ScholarPubMed
Rust, T.B., & Kwong See, S. (2007). Knowledge about aging and Alzheimer disease. Educational Gerontology, 33, 349–364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, E.B. (1992). Beliefs about memory changes across the adult lifespan. Journal of Gerontology, 47, P41–P46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ryan, E.B., Jin, Y.-S., & Anas, A.P. (2009). Cross-cultural beliefs about memory and aging for self and others: South Korea and Canada. International Journal of Aging and Human Development, 68(3), 185–194.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, E.B., Jin, Y.S., Anas, A.P., & Luh, J. (2004). Communication beliefs about youth and old age in Asia and Canada. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 19, 343–360.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, E.B., & Kwong See, S. (1993). Age-based beliefs about memory changes for self and others across adulthood. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 48, 199–201.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ryan, E.B., Kwong See, S., Meneer, W.B., & Trovato, D. (1992). Age-based perceptions of language performance among younger and older adults. Communication Research, 19, 423–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schieber, F. (2006). Vision and aging. In Birren, J.E. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of the psychology of aging (6th ed., pp. 129–162). Amsterdam: Elsevier Academic Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Slotterback, C.S., & Saarnio, D.A. (1996). Attitudes toward older adults reported by young adults: Variation based on attitudinal task and attribute categories. Psychology and Aging, 11, 563–571.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stones, M.J., & Stones, L. (1997). Ageism: The quiet epidemic. Canadian Journal of Public Health, 88(5), 293–296.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilkinson, J.A., & Ferraro, K.F. (2002). Thirty years of ageism research. In Nelson, T.D. (Ed.), Ageism: Stereotyping and prejudice against older adults. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Woolsey, L.J. (2007). Physician assistant attitude and expressed intent to work with geriatric patients. Gerontology & Geriatrics Education, 28(1), 61–78.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed