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

Abstract

Objective: to identify children’s attitudes towards the elderly. Methods: a quantitative, descriptive, exploratory, correlational study was conducted. Results: the study population was children from 3 to 10 years old. Sociodemographic data were collected and a Galvão scale, validated for the population of Portugal, was applied. The convenience sample comprised 109 children from 3 to 10 years old, of Portuguese nationality and resident in Portugal. On average, the children were found to have a 24% positive attitude towards the elderly. This value was close to the midpoint of the scale (28%), rating their attitude as moderate. Conclusion: the children’s attitudes towards the elderly were predominantly positive, although with inconsistency in some dimensions. This study may become an important contribution to the analysis of stereotypes about aging. It is important to be able to influence children's attitudes towards the elderly and help them understand the normal changes of aging.