Students Enrolled in an Introductory Gerontology Course: Their Knowledge of and Attitudes Toward Sexual Expression in Older Adults

Examining the Attitudes and Knowledge of Social Work and Nursing Students on Later-Life Sexuality

“…Contrary to our expectations, results indicated no differences between men and women regarding attitudes. Several studies support these findings (Bauer et al, 2013;Bouman et al, 2006;Ewen & Brown, 2012;Flaget-Greener et al, 2015;Langer-Most & Langer, 2010;Snyder & Zweig, 2010). In agreement with previous reports (Bodner & Lazar, 2008;Bouman, Arcelus, & Benbow, 2007;Helmes & Chapman, 2012;Kite et al, 2005), the multiple regression analysis and the summary model in our current study indicated that older students had more permissive attitudes and greater knowledge towards sexuality in later life than did younger students.…”

“…An explanation is that attitudes towards older adults’ sexuality might be shaped by factors other than contact with older adults or prior sexual education, such as belief systems, personal values, or adherence to one’s socio-cultural norms. In addition, similar to results of previous studies (Allen et al, 2009; Ewen & Brown, 2012; Funderburk et al, 2006; Mahieu et al, 2016), we found that students who had contact with older adults and more positive attitudes towards sexuality in later life had more knowledge about sexuality in later life.…”

“…Contrary to our expectations, results indicated no differences between men and women regarding attitudes. Several studies support these findings (Bauer et al, 2013; Bouman et al, 2006; Ewen & Brown, 2012; Flaget-Greener et al, 2015; Langer-Most & Langer, 2010; Snyder & Zweig, 2010).…”

“Shades of Grey”: Exploring Public Opinion about Later-Life Sexuality

“…The present study also adds to the literature as it surveyed the young and middle-aged population on their views on later-life sexuality. The majority of studies on attitudes towards later-life sexuality were conducted among health care professionals such as doctors (Dogan, Demir, Eker, & Karim, 2008;Langer-Most & Langer, 2010) or nurses (Mahieu, Van Elssen, & Gastmans, 2011), care staff (Haesler, Bauer, & Fetherstonhaugh, 2016), or students in health care professions (Ewen & Brown, 2012;Gomez-Barba & Mendoza-Ruvalcava, 2018). Our present study fills the gap in the literature by providing the perceptions of a wide range of middle-aged and young people.…”

“…Studies suggest there is a gap between explicit and implicit attitudes towards sexual expression in later life. Studies that surveyed explicit attitudes towards sexuality in later life were conducted by close-ended question surveys such as the Aging Sexual Knowledge and Attitudes Scale (ASKAS) by White (1982) which directly addressed attitudes towards later-life sexuality (e.g., Di Napoli, Breland, & Allen, 2013;Ewen & Brown, 2012;Filiz Adana et al, 2015;Flaget-Greener, Gonzalez, Sprankle, Gonzalez, & Are, 2015;Gewirtz-Meydan, Even-Zohar, & Werner, 2018;Mahieu et al, 2016;Syme & Cohn, 2016). Each of these studies used self-report methodologies and required participants to state their explicit attitudes towards later-life sexuality on a ranking scale.…”