Recent trends in counselor education are moving away from a standardized academic track in gerocounseling. In response to this, we surveyed 385 counseling students regarding issues related to gerocounseling, such as their interest in gerocounseling topics, willingness to participate in gerocounseling training, how prepared they feel to work with…

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…

Herbert Simon's work on bounded rationality has had little impact on researchers studying older adults' decision making. This omission is surprising, as human constraints on computation and memory are exacerbated in older adults. The study of older adults' decision-making processes could benefit from employing a bounded rationality perspective,…

The passage of time is fundamentally experienced through people's interaction with their social worlds. Life-course scholars acknowledge the multiple aspects of time-based experience but have given little attention to age identity in a dynamic context. Drawing from a stress-process model, we expected that turbulence within people's family…

Presents personal and professional musings on becoming and being an old woman. Older gerontologist discusses personal experiences of being both a researcher and a subject in gerontology. Considers various age and gender norms and how such norms are enforced. (Author/NB)

Family Relations and Applied Nutrition, which is offered at the University of Guelph, is an interdisciplinary department that previously offered three undergraduate majors: child, youth, and family; applied human nutrition; and gerontology; as well as graduate programs at the master's and doctoral levels. Several factors have precipitated a review…

Survey responses from 268 of 444 doctoral programs in adult development/aging and 81 of 145 in clinical psychology show a slight decline in the former. There are fewer teaching assitantships and more internships and practicums; 8% of clinical psychology programs offer a specialization in clinical geropsychology. (SK)

Illustrates how group counseling can facilitate personal development in older adults, using an open-ended support group at a geriatric day care program. Recurring themes included relationship with adult children, housing needs, religion, health issues, and age stereotypes. (JAC)

Assessed adults (N=88) on tasks operationally defining short-term memory structural limitations and process abilities. Although a number of minor chronological age-related differences were noted between monaural and dichotic word list performances, the findings indicated both structural capacity and organizational strategy deficiencies over…

This document traces theoretical developments in the psychology of aging during the last 50 years. The concept of theory is discussed as well as the bringing together of theories to form a model. After summarizing the early beginnings of American interest in aging, the work of major theoreticians is explored including Hall (senescence), Thorndike…

Predictor variables examined are self-reported health, income, education, and an activity index. Health and activity emerge as strong predictors of life satisfaction, while income influences life satisfaction indirectly via activity. The importance of investigating direct and indirect effects of variables via path analysis is discussed. (Author)

Based on an attributional model of achievement-related behavior, success of a young person and failure of an old person (expected outcomes) were predicted to be attributed to stable causes. Results are discussed in terms of conditions under which negative stereotypes concerning competency of the elderly exert influence. (Author)

Examined by in-depth interviews lived experience of aging in 32 community dwelling adults aged 50 to 80. Identified 5 categories of coping activities. Findings suggest that individuals who believe they are coping successfully see aging as positive life experience, despite acknowledgment of negative changes in themselves and people close to them.…

Projections, based on current rates, are that 40% of recent marriages will end in divorce. To investigate the factors associated with long term marriage stability and satisfaction among elderly persons, 60 California older adults (30 married, 30 divorced) were interviewed about their perceptions of the role of companionship, alternatives to…

This handbook has been designed to allow organizations and institutions to develop a basic course in gerontology relative to their own individual needs. Intended to provide a method and a wide variety of materials from which to select in order to design a course suitable for a particular setting, the selection of this format was guided by the need…