The Anxiety About Aging Scale (AAS) was modified to produce an instrument designed to assess aging anxiety in an elderly population; specifically, the future orientation of the AAS was modified for use with older adults. Validity testing was done on elderly individuals living in an independent community (N=123). (Author/EMK)

Examines coping and emotional distress in children (N=50) assisting an elderly mother hospitalized for depression. The hypothesis that maternal object-relations would be related to more adaptive coping and less emotional distress received partial support, whereas the idea that mothers' history of depression would be associated with the child's…

A light exercise program was set up for 11 patients with Alzheimer's disease who exercised each day for 40 minutes. Their sleep patterns were compared with a control group who did not exercise. Results indicate that those who participated in the exercise program manifested 40% less restless behavior, while those in the non-exercise group showed a…

Findings from 154 older adults indicated that separation orientation helped explain differential impact of environmental factors on life satisfaction. Overly dependent subjects were more adversely affected by poor self-rated health and inadequate formal activity than balanced or overly self-sufficient participants. Presence of confidant was…

Compares cultural influences on caregiver burdens of Korean adult children and American adult children caring for parents with dementia. Identifies culturally specific values, norms, and customs associated with low or high burden. Findings show low burden for Korean caregivers and high burden for American caregivers. (MKA)

Sixty-eight elderly subjects and 77 young adults were compared on implicit and explicit motive levels and on recall of introductions and working memory. Significantly fewer of the elderly scored high in the implicit motives. The elderly participants showed major recall deficits on both tasks but the implicit motives studied enhanced recall for the…

Addresses the issue of homogeneity or heterogeneity within the older Hispanic population as revealed by the use of formal services with a sample of 2135 Hispanic elderly. Although results show the patterns of service use to reflect substantial homogeneity, there is a high degree of heterogeneity in the level of service use. (MKA)

Studied 611 mature women from dual-career/earner families who were retired from field of education. Found that women who had more frequent and greater variety of social contact were more satisfied with timing of their retirement and their leisure than those who had less contact. (Author/NB)

Analyzes women (n=6) whose husbands reside in nursing homes, determining the extent to which these women perceive themselves as married. Some women perceive no existing couplehood with their institutionalized husbands, while others perceive low to high couplehood. Offers implications of such a typology for researchers, clinicians, and…

The Alzheimer's Disease Knowledge Test (ADKT) was administered to samples of practicing nurses in the U.S. and Hong Kong. Overall, U.S. nurses were significantly more knowledgeable, but exhibited more negative bias than Hong Kong nurses. Findings suggest that nurses in both countries need more training. (JPS)

Interpretations of aging in film parallel concepts and theories in gerontology. This article examines gerontological themes, such as wisdom and guidance roles, in this popular film. The ubiquity of aging motifs in popular film offers gerontology a significant opportunity for public education. (JPS)

The AGED Inventory was designed to overcome shortcomings in the Aging Semantic Differential, a frequently used measure of how age groups are perceived. Due to ease of administration, multidimensionality, and flexibility of targets specification, it can be used in a number of different ways that are compatible with current conceptualizations of…

Examines the depiction of face features and limb extremities in the self-portraits of 98 35- to 85-year olds. Discusses results from a psychoanalytic perspective. The difficulties in representing the hands are discussed in relation to castration. The absence of face features in some of the elderly's drawings could indicate a minimal age-related…

Marriage satisfaction was examined in 135 elderly married participants. Results indicated that equity, equality, and reward perceptions significantly influenced marital satisfaction, and that perceived reward was the single most influential of the three independent variables. Overall, the elderly married individuals studied were satisfied in their…

Examines relationships among normal aging, intelligence, and frontal lobe functioning. Results, based on intelligence tasks and frontal lobe functioning tasks administered to 107 adults from two age groups, indicate significant age differences in favor of the young on the intelligence tests, with a fluid component on measures of frontal lobe…