Old age from children's perspective

Abstract

IntroductionIn recent years, the field of intergenerational adaptation studies has emerged due to the increase in the elderly population. This study aimed to determine the opinions of the children in the third and fourth grades of primary school regarding old age. Materials and methodThe descriptive study was conducted with 304 students and their parents in four primary schools determined by the systematic sampling method in the city centre of Aydın province. The Family Information Form and the Children's Form named ‘Old Age According to You’ prepared by the researchers were used for the collection of the data. Descriptive statistics and chi-square test were used for data analysis. ResultsThe survey showed that almost all the children had grandparents (97.4%) and more than half (63.7%) lived in the same city with them and the care of children was generally undertaken by the grandparents (52.7%). Children stated that they enjoyed the activity of going out with the elders the most (37.8%), followed by playing with the elders (25.5%) and having conversations with the elders (18.3%). It was found that the presence of the grandparents affected the children’s first definitions of the elderly (p = .001), their opinions on what the elderly do the best (p = .000) and the behaviours the elderly should not display (p = .005) and their interaction with the elderly (p = .000). ConclusionIn conclusion, children’s views regarding old age were generally positive, and the presence of grandparents positively affected their views of the elderly.