According to the American Psychological Association (2017), one in four individuals who are 65 years and older experience a mental health problem; however, many older adults do not receive the services they need and deserve (Karlin, 2008). The current study utilizes a new concept similar to eHealth Literacy called eMental Health Literacy, defined as the degree to which individuals obtain, process, and understand basic mental health information and services needed to aid their recognition, management, or prevention of mental health issues. The relationship of eMental Health Literacy to perceived barriers to receiving mental health services was examined in a sample of middle-aged and older adults. We hypothesized that higher eMental Health Literacy would predict fewer reported barriers to mental health services. A sample of 243 participants (M=63.33, range=55-80 years) were recruited online through Amazon Mechanical Turk to complete measures assessing eMental Health Literacy (eMHEALS) and mental health barriers (BMHSSS-R). After adding two correlated errors, a structural equation model specifying eMHEALS as a predictor of extrinsic and intrinsic barriers to mental health services achieved good fit (χ2(60)=170.014, p<.001, SRMR=.068, CFI=.944, GFI=.901, TLI=.927, RMSEA=.087). All indicators were significantly related to their latent construct (p<.001). The results indicate higher eMental Health Literacy significantly predicted fewer reported intrinsic and fewer extrinsic barriers to mental health services. These relationships were statistically significant even when examined across differing socioeconomic status and age. These findings indicate eMental Health Literacy may have significant impact on the way individuals in later life navigate through the mental healthcare system.
Despite growing demand, few mental healthcare professionals specialize in clinical work with older adults. A better understanding of factors related to geropsychology interest may increase the pipeline of future geropsychologists. Graduate-level trainees (N=460; 67.4% doctoral; age=21-64) completed the Fraboni Scale of Ageism, Contact with Older Adults Scale, six indicators of interest in work with older adults, and an imagined “typical” older adult’s ability to complete activities of daily living (ADLs). 60% imagined full ADL independence. Between 14.1%-25.7% expressed strong interest in education/training related to treating older adults and having some older adult clients; only 6.7% planned to specialize in clinical work with older adults. In regression analyses (R-squared=16%-32%), more ageist attitudes, less contact, and being a master’s trainee were related to less interest. ADL status was significant only for interest in specialization; imagining more ADL-dependence related to higher interest in specializing in older adults. ADL status significantly moderated the relation of contact to interest in learning about issues related to older adults; ADL-based differences in interest were non-significant at low and average contact, but at high contact, interest in learning about older adults was significantly higher when the older adult was imagined as ADL-dependent rather than ADL-independent. Findings may indicate benevolent ageism partially motivates trainees’ interest in learning about/working with older adults whom they imagine need more help with basic tasks of daily living. Increasing contact, reducing ageist attitudes, and providing more clinical opportunities with older adults may facilitate trainees’ readiness and interest in future clinical work with older adults.
Recommendations to conceptualize sexual orientation as a continuum and as multidimensional rather than one dichotomous variable (e.g., DeBlaere et al., 2010; Kinsey et al., 1948) have been largely unexplored in sexual minority older adults, including how these dimensions might differ by age and gender. In this study, participants indicated their sexuality using three continua representing (1) attraction in general, (2) emotional attraction, and (3) physical attraction. Possible responses ranged from 0=exclusively opposite sex to 7=exclusively same sex. The current sample included 187 participants (50-86 years; 73 men, 114 women) self-identifying their sexual attraction in general as not exclusively to the opposite sex. Age groups were 50-55 (n=56), 56-64 (n=84), and 65-86 (n=47) years. MANOVA results indicated a significant multivariate age group by gender interaction (p=.040) that was significant for all three attraction variables---attraction in general (p=.035), emotional attraction (p=.010), and physical attraction (p=.029). In the 50-55 age group, the average response for physical attraction was closer to exclusively same sex for men than for women. For the 56-64 age group, the average response for attraction in general and emotional attraction was closer to exclusively same sex for women than men. Among those 65+, women responded closer to exclusively same sex than men only for emotional attraction. Gender differences on all three sexual attraction continua were not consistent across age groups, which may reflect a more fluid and complex understanding of sexuality in older LGB adults. Future studies should consider using multidimensional and continuous variables when measuring sexual orientation.
COVID-19 disproportionately impacted older adults in terms of fatalities, but also increased stress, isolation, and loneliness (Chen, 2020). We examined older adults’ anxiety, depression, and barriers to mental healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic and their perceptions of these variables prior to the pandemic. Further, we explored whether any perceived changes differed based on geographical location (rural, suburban, urban). Data were collected online between mid-June and mid-July of 2020 from 244 individuals aged 65-82 years (M=68.3, SD=3.5). The sample was primarily White (91%) and female (60%); most (n=119) lived in suburban settings, with 63 in urban and 60 in rural settings. Repeated-measures ANOVAs at alpha=.01 showed that depressive symptoms, measured by the CESD-10 (p<.001), and anxiety symptoms, measured by the GAD-7 (p<.001), increased during the pandemic as did mental healthcare barriers related to transportation (p=.004) and beliefs that depression is a normal part of aging (p<.001). Only transportation concerns differed based on where older adults lived; those in rural (p<.001) and urban (p=.004) settings reported greater transportation barriers than those in suburban settings. No differences over time were found for barriers related to help-seeking (p=.403), stigma (p=.156), knowledge/fear (p=.180), finding a therapist (p=.030), ageism (p=.302), psychotherapist qualifications (p=.265), physician referrals (p=.207), or finances (p=.818). These findings highlight the impact of COVID-19 on older adults’ perceptions of changes in their psychological well-being as well as their experience navigating mental health services.
Building on eHealth literacy and mental health literacy, this cross-sectional survey study examined associations between eMental health literacy (the degree to which individuals obtain, process, and understand basic mental health information online to inform mental health-related decisions), perceived barriers to mental healthcare, and psychological distress. Data were collected online for 247 older adults in the United States. Higher eMental health literacy was associated with fewer perceived barriers to mental healthcare, in models conceptualizing psychological distress as an outcome of eMental health literacy and barriers to care (intrinsic, β = −0.36, p < .001; extrinsic, β = −0.24, p = .002) and as a covariate of eMental health literacy (intrinsic, β = −0.33, p = .001; extrinsic, β = −0.24, p = .003). Continued research and replication of findings are needed to better understand the potential role of eMental health literacy in reducing barriers to mental health services in later life.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.