Whatley Mary C, Castel Alan D
Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles.
Educ Gerontol. 2020;46(12):785-795. doi: 10.1080/03601277.2020.1826088. Epub 2020 Oct 1.
Younger adults generally hold negative attitudes and stereotypes about aging, which can affect the success with which they age as well as how they interact with older generations in everyday settings. The current study sought to improve expectations about aging in a largely first-year undergraduate student population through a small, discussion-based course on successful aging. Students in the successful aging course and a control course completed the 12-item expectations regarding aging (ERA) scale at the beginning and the end of the 10-week academic quarter. Students in the aging class also provided adjectives that came to mind when thinking about older adults. Students in the successful aging course had higher ERA scores at the end of the quarter than at the beginning of the quarter, but scores in the control class did not change. Further analyses indicated students' expectations about cognitive functioning and physical health improved, but not expectations about mental health. In addition, self-generated adjectives were more positive at the end than the beginning of the quarter, but some negative adjectives persisted. Thus, a smaller, discussion-based class about aging led to a more positive view of aging, suggesting that negative attitudes about aging may be modifiable by a short intervention in early adulthood. These results can have implications for how younger adults interact with older adults and how they may prepare for, hold future expectations about, and ultimately experience older age.
较年轻的成年人通常对衰老持有消极态度和刻板印象，这会影响他们衰老的成功程度以及他们在日常环境中与年长一代的互动方式。当前的研究试图通过一门关于成功衰老的小型讨论课程，提高大部分为大一本科生群体对衰老的期望。成功衰老课程和对照课程的学生在为期10周的学季开始和结束时，完成了关于衰老期望（ERA）的12项量表。衰老课程的学生还提供了在想到老年人时脑海中浮现的形容词。成功衰老课程的学生在学季结束时的ERA得分高于学季开始时，但对照班的得分没有变化。进一步分析表明，学生对认知功能和身体健康的期望有所提高，但对心理健康的期望没有提高。此外，学生自己生成的形容词在学季结束时比开始时更积极，但一些消极形容词仍然存在。因此，一门关于衰老的小型讨论课程导致了对衰老更积极的看法，这表明对衰老的消极态度可能通过在成年早期的短期干预而得到改变。这些结果可能会对较年轻的成年人与年长成年人的互动方式以及他们如何为老年做准备、持有未来期望以及最终体验老年产生影响。
