Attitudes of children towards the elderly - children between of 3 and 10 years old

Abstract

Objective: to identify attitudes of children towards the elderly. Methods: a quantitative, descriptive, exploratory, and correlational study was conducted. Results: the population studied were children between the ages of 3 to 10 years. Data collection incorporated some sociodemographic data and application of the "Galvão" scale validated for the Portuguese population. The convenience sample of 109 children between 3 and 10 years old, of Portuguese nationality and resident in Portugal. The results have shown on average children presented (24%) positive attitude towards the elderly. This value was close to the midpoint of the scale (28%), which places them in a moderate attitude. Conclusion: children presented more positive attitudes towards the elderly, although with some inconsistency in some dimensions. This research could become an important contribution to analyse stereotypes about aging.  It is important to be able to intervene in children's attitudes towards the elderly, helping children to understand the normal changes of aging.