Purpose: With a sample of American Indian adults, we estimated the prevalence of adult caregiving, assessed the demographic and cultural profile of caregivers, and examined the association between cultural factors and being a caregiver. This is the first such study conducted with American Indians. Design and Methods: Data came from a…

Compared the perceptions of 84 younger adults and 54 older adults who rated the attractiveness of 12 drawings of human faces. Results showed unattractive faces were generally perceived to be older while attractive faces were perceived to be younger. Older raters diminished age and attractiveness differences reported by younger raters. (JAC)

Individuals (n=54) from across adult life span wrote essays about death and dying. Examined extent to which essays were concerned with death or dying and self, others, or more abstract conceptions, as well as level of impact, involvement, and acceptance. Discussions of death were more frequent and more complex than discussions of dying.…

Investigates age and gender differences in the relative perception of social support across adulthood. Findings indicate that age and gender do affect the perception of demandingness across different support relationships. Men appear to perceive spousal support as the most positive, while women perceive children's support as the most positive.…

Examined images of older people held by adults of all ages in 1974 (n=4,254) and 1981 (n=3,427). Cohort changes in such perceptions over time were examined. Multivariate analysis indicated that social class and health status evaluations of older adults declined between the two surveys, principally because of the assessment by more recent cohorts.…

Surveyed 88 female participants of community-based age-integrated water exercise program designed to enhance comfort and social interaction. Affective measures and observation of membership as a support group elicited few differences by age. Members endorsed having age integration in classes and there was little indication that subgroups of…

Examines age-related changing levels of voting turnout across time at the individual level, using the University of Michigan Survey Research Center panel studies. Demonstrated that older people do not differ substantially from other age groups in the durability of their voting behavior across time. (JAC)

Examined prose, document, and quantitative literacy skills of 1,791 black and white Mississippi residents aged 16 to 75. Results revealed that very few Mississippians were totally illiterate but that level of literacy was associated with education, age, and race. Both highly educated and little-educated older persons scored lower on all three…

Surveyed 54 young, 54 middle-aged, and 54 older adults on connotative meanings of 10 common nouns referring to older persons. Results were similar across age groups. Mature American, Senior Citizen, and Retired Person were rated generally positively while Aged, Elderly, and nouns using "old" were rated more negatively. (Author/NB)

Examined agreements between physicians and patients on major goals and topics discussed during outpatient medical visit. Found concordance to be significantly greater for younger patients and their physicians than for older patients and their physicians on major goals and major medical topics discussed during primary care interview. (Author/NB)

Compared persons 65 years of age or older (N=177) to younger adults (n=997) with respect to compliance with 20 recommended health-seeking behaviors. Overall, the elderly group reported greater compliance with these behaviors, attributed more importance to their value, but perceived themselves as having less control over their future health.…

Investigated extent to which cognitions mediate relationship between negative life events and depression. College students and their same-sex parents and grandparents (n=171) completed measures of stressful life events, automatic thoughts, dysfunctional attitudes, and depression. Found interaction between negative life events and cognition for…

Using retrospective, self-report data collected from women recently diagnosed with breast cancer (N=179), examines the influence of age differences in the treatment decision-making process. Findings indicate that older women were less likely than their younger counterparts to have desired participation in therapy selection or sought out medical…

Results of interviews with 173 younger and 163 middle-aged and older couples revealed that life strains were more closely linked to patterns of depressive symptoms in younger couples with strains tending to be greatest for couples in which both spouses reported depressive symptoms. (Author)

Purpose: This study investigated the use of private prayer among middle-aged and older patients as a way of coping with cardiac surgery and prayer's relationship to optimism. Design and Methods: The measure of prayer included three aspects: (a) belief in the importance of private prayer, (b) faith in the efficacy of prayer on the basis of previous…