Youth's Attitudes Toward the Elderly: the Impact of Intergenerational Partners

The authors examined changes in children's preceptions of the elderly following participation in a 9-month intergenerational project on aging. The project matched 24 fourth-grade student with 24 elderly subjects from a large senior citizens center. The project involved a number of shared activities throughout the school year. For comparative purposes, these students were matched by grade with a control group (N = 25). Using the Children's Perceptions of Aging and Elderly Inventory, the experimental group was judged to have significantly more positive attitudes toward the elderly than the control group (t = 2.79; p < .01). Results from a 1-year follow-up produced similar differences between the experimental and control groups (t = 2.12; p < .02). Qualitative statements by the experimental group also reveal a very positive attitude toward their own aging as well as toward the utility of the project.