Perceptions of elders' substance abuse and resilience.

Human service students' (social work, criminal justice, public administration, psychology) were surveyed (N = 242). Their perceptions about older persons' resilience and recovery from substance abuse were investigated. Overall, respondents did not agree that treating older persons for a substance abuse problem was wasteful of resources or older people do not benefit from treatment. However, respondents did not agree that older persons who consumed more than two alcoholic beverages per day had an alcohol-related problem, that drinking more than two alcoholic beverages per day had health consequences for an older person, or that alcohol was used by elders to self-medicate for depression and loneliness. Using a simple regression analysis, a final model for perceptions about older persons' recovery and resilience included the predictor variables of perceptions about older persons and street substances, perceptions about treatment and older persons, perceptions about abuse, health, and older persons, and age. Results indicated that the predictor variables accounted for more than 30% of the variance in perceptions about older person's recovery and resilience (R(2) = .331; adjusted R(2) = .319).