Purpose: Researchers' knowledge regarding older users of illicit drugs is limited despite the increasing numbers of users. In this article, we apply a life course perspective to gain a further understanding of older adult drug use, specifically contrasting early- and late-onset heroin users. Design and Methods: We collected qualitative data from…

Attempted to better delineate nature of simple reminiscence (recall of past experiences). Used constant comparative method to analyze transcripts of older adults' reminiscences and found that the process consists of four elements: selection, immersion, withdrawal, and closure. (Author/NB)

Evaluated novels written in old age by two contemporary British novelists, Barbara Pym and Penelope Mortimer, which revealed their late style was related to lifelong methods of adapting to changes in their situation. Found strength and direction of their creativity in old age fluctuated in response to their aging bodies and their new roles in…

Investigated the extent to which leisure is more than a time-filler for adults aged 40 and older. Analyzes how leisure is a social space of relative freedom for expression, development, and community through the adult life course in relation to styles of later life coping. (Author/ABB)

Considers retirement as widespread developmental transition. Seeks to exploit and advance Erikson's life cycle model by noting major transition challenges between generativity and integrity; distinguishing between tasks and outcomes in such transitions; and viewing such tasks as derived from historical, biological, psychological, and sociocultural…

Examined commonalities of aging consciousness among 72 professional men and women between 50 and 60 years old. Found frequency and intensity of aging messages increased in the fifties, fostering a quickened sense of aging during this decade. Identified four categories of age reminders characteristic in the fifties: body, generational, contextual,…

Examined constraints to participation in outdoor recreation across the life span. Life span was considered important for determining who will stop or reduce participation in recreation activities. Suggests constraints to participation are both pervasive, and can be dichotomized into limitors and prohibitors. (Author/ABB)

Explored the meaning of grandparenthood to grandparents, the importance of grandparenthood across the life cycle, and the relationship between grandparenthood and mental health. Derived five dimensions of grandparenthood meaning: (1) centrality, (2) valued elder, (3) immortality through clan, (4) reinvolvement with personal past, and (5) spoil.…

Searched cross-cultural collections and found that, of 2,500 fairy tales reviewed, only two percent featured older adults as protagonists. Discusses six themes from these stories which contain valuable folk wisdom about psychological development in later life. (Author/ABB)

The population of older women consists of relatively healthy, educated, nonpoor, native-born women, not employed and not living with a spouse. Women's involvement in significant activities is limited and there are impediments to their greater participation. Social gerontologists should design new opportunities engaging older women in socially…

The sequence of planning was the same for all groups and included a resource-planning stage followed by a relationship-planning stage. Retirement programs for rural couples should focus on those in their forties and should involve both spouses and family members. (Author/JAC)

While research on functional decline in later life has expanded knowledge on aging, theories of functional transitions are needed. Proposes a conceptual model that views change as mobility between states. Exploring the analogy between geographic migration and functional change suggests several migration concepts that might be borrowed by aging…

Identified types of moral problems faced by older adults (N=37). The most commonly reported moral problem involved family relationships. Younger subjects identified conflicts between personal behavior and the legal code, while a trend appeared for older subjects to be unable to identify a personal moral conflict. (Author/JAC)

Discusses a summer work-study program for medical students which provided a training experience regarding the community elderly and their health and well-being. It represents in microcosm several of the elements of a gerontological component which need to be incorporated into the medical school curriculum. (Author)

Examines earlier conceptualizations of successful aging and calls for a reformulation that is more responsive to developmental processes and theoretical guidance. Discusses issues of operational definitions, selective sampling, and stage theory. The perspective is illustrated with empirical research in the personality realm. (Author)