Zeitschrift fur Gerontologie最新文献

120 Jewish people who were forced to emigrate from Germany to Israel or Argentinia during the "Third Reich" were interviewed. Interviews dealt with the psychic situation; additionally, scales were applied for measurement of morale, attitudes towards the present situation and the future, and perceived changeability of the situation. The group of emigrants was divided into two subgroups: Emigrants who stayed in foreign countries, and emigrants who returned to Germany in old age. The emigrants were compared with a control-group of german people who were not discriminated against and persecuted, and who were not forced to emigrate. Significant differences between the two groups were found: The emigrants showed a higher degree of perceived changeability and a more positive life-review. Perceived stress and activity in different intra- and extrafamilial roles were higher. Emigrants who had gone back to Germany showed a higher degree of perceived changeability and a lower degree of sorrow concerning personal future than emigrants who stayed in Israel or Argentinia. Perceived stress in extrafamilial roles was higher. Additionally, motives for going back to Germany and for staying in Israel or Argentinia were analyzed.

In a representative study, 450 elderly men and women over the age of 60 years were--besides other questions--asked if they had any sexual activity within the last 12 months. Not regarding the gender of these persons, but rather just the marital status, i.e. if they still have a partner, two-thirds of the old people between 61-70 years and one-third of the group older than 70 years, who still have a partner, had sexual activity. We then looked for a relationship between sexual activity and special aspects of personality, measured by the Giessen Test. We found that older people who still have sexual activity describe themselves als less depressed, with more social contacts, and with a higher social potency than elderly people with no sexual activity.

Traditional concepts within psychoanalytically oriented developmental psychology end with adulthood. The life cycle theories of Erikson as well as Colarusso & Nemiroff cannot, in their current form, explain the processes of conflict interaction in adulthood that are responsible for continued development. Currently existing aging-specific psychoanalytic and cognitive-motivational oriented theories do not provide solutions to this question. Based on the first qualitative results from 2-4-hour semi-structured, biographical interviews with older adults, a simplified model of development throughout the life-course based on the following three basic organizing principles (in accordance with Spitz) is presented 1) psychological processes until adulthood; 2) social relationships during adulthood; 3) somatic processes in late life. Further empirical investigation of this model will be carried out within the context of the Eldermen-study now in progress. First results indicate a variety of clinically relevant developmental conflicts in late life. A deeper understanding of these conflicts will provide the basis for more extensive and appropriate therapeutic interventions.

This analysis deals with conflicts and stress in different age groups on the basis of a differential life-span developmental psychology. The conflict situations of 101 persons out of four different age groups (between 30 and 70) are compared with the issues of a study by Lehr and Thomae (1965). Although there are corresponding results according to the frequency and the themes of stress situations, we find differences which can be connected with, for example, changed points of view concerning the male/female roles, historical influences as well as social and political transformations. Furthermore, this analysis investigates how the clients cope with their immediate intrapersonal conflict. Different coping styles can be found and compared within the four age groups.

The use of drugs was related to medical, psychological, and sociological parameters in an 80-year-old population. Use of drugs on the whole, as well as the use of specific drug categories such as digitalis, diuretics, other cardiovascular drugs, hypnotics, sedatives, analgesics and laxatives were related to an impaired quality of life. However, the use of vitamins and herbal pills was not related to an impaired quality of life. Use of hypnotics was related to neuroticism and to depressed mood. Persons using digitalis, diuretics and other cardiovascular drugs felt more lonely and had a stronger feeling of loneliness. According to a discriminant analysis, five questions could identify 70% of the persons using drugs. These questions were: frequency of visits to the doctor, subjective health, smoking (smokers used fewer drugs), feeling of loneliness, and objective health.

The current and future expected aging process of the population in Germany affects women more than men. This is equally true for West and East Germany. The demographic development in Germany will cause a confrontation with the problems of aging persons in our society to be ever more essential. This also includes the analysis of the living situation of older women and men. In this contribution two significant aspects of the living situation of older persons in West- and East Germany are being discussed; the income situation and household- and marital status structures. A German-German comparison shows that older women in the new federal states already have higher pension qualifying periods than women in the old federal states. Decisive causes for this are different personal labour force biographies. In total, the income situation of the elderly in East Germany is less favourable as a result of formerly no or at best, minimal possibilities for investments. In addition, it is evident (and this applies to all of Germany) that women have poorer financial starting positions for arranging their life situation in old age than do men. Additionally, there are more women than men who live alone in old age. One-person households of the aged are predominantly female households. Differences according to sex which are analyzed in the article result in different consequences for life in old age. Precisely what this might look like in the final analysis depends not only on the old people themselves, but also on the opportunities that the society in which they live provides for them.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A review of numerous studies on coping with stress points to the important role of the response class "accepting a stressful situation" in the daily lives of healthy persons and for patients coping with chronic disease and disability. For some extreme situations this response class is the only way to attain some affective balance and an adequate selection of adjustment processes. It is recommended that research on coping should not only focus on more or less complex response structures, but also on the analysis of specific response classes ("ways of coping").

Recent studies of retirement-patterns often concentrated on men's lives. Especially in this field of research, we have to be aware of a "gender-bias". The intention of this study is to correct this omission. The interaction between cognitive and motivational variables within the person and biographical factors were investigated. 106 women born between 1923 and 1933 participated at the follow-up study with three different measurement points. The investigation was realized by using the biographical method developed by H. Thomae. From the biographical background of the women, we could point to close associations between attitudes, motivations, and plans developed during the occupational career and coping-patterns in the process of retirement. Very strong intragroup differences were found. The process of dealing with retirement varies among women, depending on different life-perspectives. The life-perspectives depend upon biographically developed self-definitions and life-interpretations during life-course. In general, the results show that lifelong employment does not necessarily lead to a turning away from traditional gender-biased stereotypes and to a change in the identity of elderly former employed women.

This study examined gender differences in the social networks of 60 healthy women and men aged 65 to 89 years. Semi-structured interviews and a modification of the social convoy method (Kahn and Antonucci, 1980) were used. The results confirm the assumption of sex-role-specific behavior in social relationships. Gender differences were not found in the size of the social network.

Disability must not occur inevitably during ageing though interrelations with age dependent physiological involutive processes and/or psychological factors may exist. But it is possible to prevent genesis or progression of disabilities to a remarkable range by suitable therapy as activating care or rehabilitation. Necessary basic decrees for this exist but are used too scarcely. At time epidemiology only gives insufficient informations concerning both the situation of ageing people with disabilities and of the further development of disability with age. Therefore this contribution mainly is confined to point out deficits resp. trends and to request urgently reactions for starting necessary changes.