The purpose of this study was to explore the impact of age, historical change, and gender on perceptions of mental health and mental health services. Using multidimensional measures to assess such perceptions among older adults (1977, 1991, 2000), and younger adults (1991, 2000), we expected that older adults would have less positive mental health…

Because of the dearth of available partners, older women looking to date may have to relax their dating standards to find a dating partner, perhaps accepting a life situation that is not what they had hoped for. However older women may be reluctant to sacrifice an often recently-gained lifestyle free of caregiving obligations. Older men, on the…

An adaptation of the Family Stress Model (FSM) with hypothesized linkages between family contextual factors, custodial grandmothers' psychological distress, parenting practices, and grandchildren's adjustment was tested with structural equation modeling. Interview data from 733 custodial grandmothers of grandchildren between ages 4-17 revealed…

Fluctuations in cognitive task performance in older individuals have been reported. To examine intraindividual variability as a function of practice, 34 younger and 34 older female participants, aged 20-30 years and 70-82 years, respectively, performed a reading span task 16 times over four sessions. Each individual's recall accuracy was analyzed…

This qualitative study of nine women examined the changes in their everyday lives as they cared for their terminally-ill husbands and after their husbands died. It also studied how the women coped with these changes, and how their coping contributed to their identity change from wife to widow. Symbolic interaction was utilized to study the changes…

Depression in women with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) may be related to social role experiences, physical health, and age. The purpose of this study was to examine the social and health factors contributing to depression in two age groups of women with RA. One-hundred and thirty-eight midlife and late-life women with a diagnosis of RA participated in…

Few studies examine how the gendered nature of aging impacts young adults--shaping their images of later life, attitudes toward elderly persons, aging anxieties, and conceptions of the start of "old age." We examine gender differences in young adults' views of elders and the aging process using a survey of college students and content analysis of…

Examined conceptions of femininity and masculinity in women who were college freshmen, in their midtwenties, midthirties, and midforties. Results indicated older women emphasized the biological element of their role, and rejected the relationship between gender and personality. Younger women emphasized physical characteristics and were more likley…

Examined the effect of role continuity in a rural Mediterranean society. Results indicated continuity in a woman's core role of housewife exists but so does discontinuity with the conflicting roles which make up her role set. Suggests an ongoing role set may contribute to higher morale in old age. (Author/RC)

Examined the effects of social age status and gender on perception of control of work, home, and school situations. Adults perceived the greatest control through the ability to influence powerful others. Adult females perceived greater influence than adolescent or retired females but the same as males of any age. (Author/JA)

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship of demographic characteristics, contextual factors, social support, and coping on health outcomes of family caregivers of older adults with dementia in Taiwan. This study also examined caregiving stress and whether support moderated the effects of caregiver stress on health. Lazarus and…

Examined constraints that might result in locomotion declines in older adults. Videotaped movements of healthy, active females between 20 and 80 years. Those over 60 walked at significantly slower speeds, particularly climbing stairs and used smaller range of speeds than younger individuals. Despite slowing, pattern of coordination between limbs…

Explored phenomenological meanings of retirement for women and factors associated with adjustment among employed and retired women. No differences were found in levels of morale, adjustment, or self-esteem. Correlations of background, status, and attitudinal variables with measures of morale, adjustment, and self-esteem indicated that the factors…

Compared sex role characteristics and related personality traits in four age groups of women. In general, younger women were least like the traditional feminine sex role stereotype; they were more willing to ascribe masculine sex role characteristics to themselves. Older women adhered most strongly to conventional feminine traits. (JAC)

Assessed older (N=33) and middle-aged (N=18) women on linguistic discourse tasks. Subjects were interviewed, administered cognitive tests, and given narrative and procedural discourse tasks. Older subjects generally performed more poorly than did middle-aged subjects. Within the older group, measures of quality of disclosure were generally…