Examined age, gender, and area-of-residence differences in household type and generational composition. Majority of elders lived in some form of family household; most prevalent were two-person, married-couple-only households at ages 65-79, one-person households at ages 80-89, and 2-generation households at ages 90+. Overall, elders were more…

Given the facilitating conditions and the characteristic qualities of worry, the elderly seem to be particularly susceptible to the experience of worry. The Worry Scale was developed in response to the concerns expressed about life events measures and as an attempt to address the needs of elderly people directly. Older adults (N=94) from 11 senior…

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.…

Examines the relationship between age and mental health in a sample of persons 55 years and older (N=2,051). Presents data on three self-report measures of symptomatology; anxiety, depression, and a global measure of psychological well-being. (LLL)

Examined data from 1,864 Bank of America retirees to investigate correlations among healthy habits, age, gender, and education. Health habits were strongly and positively associated with each other and negatively associated with unhealthy habits. Age and gender differences were found. Education was significantly associated only with fiber in diet…

Aging and housing professionals must reexamine housing policy and practices, and reshape housing opportunities for older persons without undermining their preferences and values. A nationwide survey of 1,500 adults age 60 and older was conducted to determine their housing needs, concerns, and preferences. The results revealed that 70% of…

The classification behavior of male and female college students was compared with that of healthy, well-educated older males and females. On the whole, the results failed to confirm other published evidence maintaining that aging is marked by conceptual deficits or a regressed mode of cognitive functioning. (Author/CS)

Investigated whether learning style was related to gender and age among Elderhostel participants (N=103). Results indicated that gender was related to learning style; age and learning style were not related. Females scored higher than males on Abstract Random Channel; males scored higher than females on Abstract Sequential Channel. Both genders…

Studied fears of older adults. Results indicated that older women expressed greater fearfulness than did older men. Elderly ranked aging and sickness as their foremost fears. Results suggest some fears may change or intensify over the lifespan and that, within each period, females report greater fearfulness than do males. (Author/ABL)

Used 1979 Chicano Survey and four different operational definitions of retirement to explore effects of age, gender, health, birthplace, and lifetime work experience on retirement of Mexican Americans. Frequent health limitations were associated with retirement defined by self-reported retirement or self-reported current work status, but not…

Surveyed 100 older adults to determine kinds of memorabilia and cherished objects they would identify and how these were related to reminiscence and current mood as measured by Affect-Balance Scale. Found significant positive relationship between memorabilia and mood; total lack of cherished objects was associated with significantly lower mood…

A study of the differences in the estimates given by older and younger adults of the ages of stimulus persons distributed across the age continuum. (SDH)

While research on humor in children has increased in the past 20 years, there is less information on adult humor. The Humor Assessment Instrument (HUMA) was developed as part of an ongoing humor intervention project. HUMA was used to interview 398 adults on their perception of humor in the media, humor among acquaintances, humor in parents, most…

Examined Rotter's Internal-External locus of control concept in relation to life satisfaction and death anxiety in aged population (N=122). Found strong gender and locus of control effect for life satisfaction. For death anxiety, found strong gender effect and significant interaction between locus of control and age. Suggests need for life span…

Responses from 125 Black and 130 White children identified three subdimensions (personality characteristics, affective relations, physical abilities) in an index measuring children's perceptions of aging. Findings indicated that children did not differ significantly by race or age on any of the three dimensions. (NRB)