Abstract

Objectives

Older adults (OA; 65+) can become cognitively fused with negative attitudes and stereotypes. Given the verbal nature of ageist stereotypes, mindfulness and acceptance-based practices (MABPs) may help the impact of negative aging attitudes by increasing non-judgmental awareness, cognitive defusion, and acceptance. As part of a larger study, this project examined whether an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) consistent MABP would reduce negative aging attitudes using an experimental design. We hypothesized that assignment to the MABP condition would be associated with lower negative aging attitudes for both OAs and university undergraduates (18-25).

Method

Both OAs (N = 60) and undergraduate student (N = 60) participants were assigned to the experimental or comparison condition (MABP vs. sit-and-think task) and were then presented negative ageist stereotypes assessed with two ageism measures.

Results

Following the MABP, undergraduates who received a MABP had significantly lower ageism scores than did undergraduates who did not, while OAs endorsed higher scores on ageism after receiving the MABP (vs comparison group; ps < .05). There was no significant condition by age sample interaction effect.

Conclusion

Results suggest that undergraduates and OAs may have different strategies for recontextualizing ageist attitudes, with OAs possibly employing different strategies when confronted with ageism in an experimental context. Overall, aging education, OA experimental research, and evidence-based interventions for negative beliefs about aging are needed. Limitations and future directions are discussed.

中文翻译：

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老年人和大学生内化年龄歧视的正念和接受技能的实验研究

摘要

目标

老年人（OA；65 岁以上）可能在认知上与消极态度和刻板印象融合在一起。鉴于年龄歧视刻板印象的语言性质，正念和基于接受的做法 (MABPs) 可能通过增加非评判意识、认知解离和接受来帮助消极衰老态度的影响。作为一项大型研究的一部分，该项目使用实验设计检查了接受和承诺疗法 (ACT) 一致的 MABP 是否会减少消极的衰老态度。我们假设分配到 MABP 条件将与 OA 和大学本科生较低的消极老龄化态度有关 (18-25)。

方法

OA ( N  = 60) 和本科生 ( N  = 60) 参与者都被分配到实验或比较条件（MABP 与静坐思考任务），然后通过两种年龄歧视措施评估负面的年龄歧视刻板印象。

结果

在 MABP 之后，接受 MABP 的本科生的年龄歧视分数明显低于未接受 MABP 的本科生，而 OA 在接受 MABP 后的年龄歧视分数更高（与对照组相比；p s < .05）。年龄样本交互作用不存在显着条件。

结论

结果表明，本科生和 OA 可能有不同的策略来重新定位年龄歧视态度，当在实验环境中面对年龄歧视时，OA 可能会采用不同的策略。总体而言，需要老龄化教育、OA 实验研究和针对老龄化负面信念的循证干预措施。讨论了限制和未来的方向。