William James Center for Research, ISPA - Instituto Universitário, Lisbon, Portugal.
Center for Clinical Psychology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, Pakistan.
Aging Ment Health. 2024 Nov;28(11):1489-1501. doi: 10.1080/13607863.2024.2348611. Epub 2024 May 6.
This study has three objectives: A) To investigate the relationship of ageism on older adults' civic activities; B) To analyze the influence of ageism on mental health; and C) To explore the impact of civic participation on older adults' mental health.
This qualitative study included 782 older people from three different nationalities (Portuguese, Brazilian, and English) ranging in age from 65 to 88. All the interviews went through the process of content analysis.
For the first objective, the findings encompass one high-level theme (Social and individual incompetence), which included social rejection (86%), reduced competence (84%), expectations of failure (83%), and not being able to contribute (77%). For the second objective, findings indicated two overarching categories: Perceived inability, including frustration and impotence (89%), incompetence (77%) and irrelevance (71%); and Perceived distress, including anger (81%), feelings of anxiety (68%); and emotional bursts (63%). For the third objective, the following two high-level themes emerged: Ego-oriented resources, which comprised the development of a sense of purpose (81%), learning cognitive skills (71%), and (A3) practising sense of agency (67%); and Social-oriented resources, encompassing feeling socially integrated (80%); and expressing emotionally (54%). Findings indicated that the most verbalized themes for the three objectives were the same across the three nationalities.
Ageism made it difficult for people to participate in civic life, which has been linked to better mental health. These findings emphasize the need to encourage inclusive civic involvement to improve older individuals' mental health.
本研究有三个目的：A）调查年龄歧视对老年人公民活动的关系；B）分析年龄歧视对心理健康的影响；C）探讨公民参与对老年人心理健康的影响。
这项定性研究包括来自三个不同民族（葡萄牙语、巴西语和英语）的 782 名 65 至 88 岁的老年人。所有访谈都经过了内容分析的过程。
对于第一个目标，研究结果包含一个高级主题（社会和个人无能），其中包括社会排斥（86%）、降低能力（84%）、预期失败（83%）和无法贡献（77%）。对于第二个目标，研究结果表明有两个总体类别：感知无能，包括沮丧和无力（89%）、无能（77%）和无关紧要（71%）；以及感知困扰，包括愤怒（81%）、焦虑感（68%）和情绪爆发（63%）。对于第三个目标，出现了以下两个高级主题：自我导向资源，包括目的感的发展（81%）、学习认知技能（71%）和（A3）实践能动性（67%）；以及社会导向资源，包括社会融合感（80%）和情感表达（54%）。研究结果表明，三个目标中最常被提及的主题在三个民族中是相同的。
年龄歧视使人们难以参与公民生活，而这与更好的心理健康有关。这些发现强调需要鼓励包容的公民参与，以改善老年人的心理健康。
