DETERMINING THE ATTITUDES AND SENSITIVITY OF STUDENTS STUDYING AT A FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY TOWARDS THE OLDER ADULTS

Yıl 2025, Cilt: 8 Sayı: 3, 136 - 151, 26.12.2025

Berna Bayır , Naciye Esra Koyuncu

https://doi.org/10.71416/jhss.1654840

Öz

Objective: The purpose of this study is to determine attitudes and sensitivity of university students towards the older adults.
Methods: The population of this descriptive and exploratory study consists of university students at a foundation university. The sample included 622 university students. Data were collected using the Sociodemographic Characteristics and Elderly Sensitivity Form and the Attitude Towards the Elderly Scale, which were uploaded to Google Forms. Descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, chi-square, and Fisher’s exact tests were used for statistical analysis.
Results: At the end of the study, working students scored 120.44±6.81, those whose fathers were not work scored 118.83±7.33, those who wanted to live with their parents had a mean score of 120.22±6.02, and those who were willing to care for older adults had a mean score of 120.50±6.74, indicating that their attitudes toward older adults were statistically significantly higher. When evaluating students’ attitudes toward older adults, male students, preparatory class students, and working students were more likely to want to live with their parents (p<0.05). Fourth-year students and working students were more likely to want to care for older adults (p<0.05). Additionally, students aged 26-35, single students, and fourth-year students were more likely to think that the older adults were neglected (p<0.05).
Conclusion: In conclusion, it was observed the attitudes of students towards older adults, their desire to live with their parents, their willingness to provide care for older adults, and their perceptions regarding abuse of older adults may vary depending on certain individual and family characteristics.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Older adult abuse , Student , University

Bir Vakıf Üniversitesinde Okuyan Öğrencilerin Yaşlılara Yönelik Tutum ve Duyarlılıklarının Belirlenmesi

Öz

Amaç: Bu araştırmanın amacı üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşlılara karşı tutum ve duyarlılıklarını belirlemektir.
Yöntem: Tanımlayıcı ve ilişki arayıcı türde olan araştırmanın evreni bir vakıf üniversitesindeki üniversite öğrencileridir. Araştırmanın örneklemini 622 üniversite öğrencisi oluşturmuştur. Veriler Google formlara yüklenen Sosyo-Demografik Özellikler ve Yaşlı Duyarlılığı Formu ile Yaşlılara Karşı Tutum Ölçeği aracılığıyla toplanmıştır. İstatistiksel analizde tanımlayıcı istatistikler, Tek Yönlü Varyans Analizi (One-way ANOVA), Ki-kare ve Fisher Exact Testleri kullanılmıştır.
Bulgular: Araştırmanın sonunda çalışan öğrencilerin 120,44±6,81, babası çalışmayanların 118,83±7,33, ebeveynleriyle birlikte yaşamak isteyenlerin 120,22±6,02, yaşlılara bakım vermeye istekli olanların 120,50±6,74 puan ortalamaları ile yaşlı tutumlarının istatistiksel olarak anlamlı daha yüksektir. Öğrencilerin yaşlı duyarlılıkları değerlendirildiğinde erkeklerin, hazırlık sınıfındakilerin ve çalışanların ebeveynleriyle yaşamak istediği (p<0.05), 4. sınıftakilerin ve çalışanların yaşlılara bakım vermek isteyebilecekleri (p<0.05), 26-35 yaş aralığındakilerin, bekarların ve 4. sınıfta olanların yaşlıların istimara uğradığını düşündüğü (p<0.05) belirlenmiştir.
Sonuç: Sonuç olarak öğrencilerin bazı bireysel ve ailesel özelliklerine göre yaşlı bireylere karşı tutumlarının, ebeveynleriyle birlikte yaşama isteklerinin, yaşlı bireylere bakım verme isteklerinin ve yaşlı bireylerin istismara uğradığına yönelik düşüncelerinin farklılık gösterebileceği görülmüştür.

Anahtar Kelimeler

öğrenci , Yaşlı İstismarı , Üniversite

Kaynakça

• Acierno, R., Hernandez, M. A., Amstadter, A. B., Resnick, H. S., Steve, K., Muzzy, W., & Kilpatrick, D. G. (2010). Prevalence and correlates of emotional, physical, sexual, and financial abuse and potential neglect in the United States: The National Elder Mistreatment Study. American Journal of Public Health, 100(2), 292–297. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2009.163089
• Ayguler, E., & Buz, S. (2022). Examination of university students’ attitudes towards older people: The case of social work education. Educational Gerontology, 48(6), 237–249. https://doi.org/10.1080/03601277.2022.2031576
• Ayoğlu, F. N., Kulakçı, H., Ayyıldız, T. K., Aslan, G. K., & Veren, F. (2014). Attitudes of Turkish nursing and medical students toward elderly people. Journal of Transcultural Nursing, 25(3), 241–248. https://doi.org/10.1177/1043659613515527
• Bar, Z. D., Adamović, M. V., & Stošljević, M. L. (2025). Socio-demographic characteristics of students as a predictor of their attitude towards elderly people. Sociološki Pregled, 59(1), 399–424. https://doi.org/10.5937/socpreg59-51966
• Başer, G., & Cingil, D. (2019). Üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşlılara karşı tutumlarının değerlendirilmesi. Sağlık ve Toplum, 29(2), 79–85.
• Bedaso, T. S., & Han, B. (2021). Attitude toward aging mediates the relationship between personality and mental health in older adults. Healthcare, 9(5), Article 594. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9050594
• Bužgová, R., Kozáková, R., & Bobčíková, K. (2024). Predictors of attitudes towards aging in elderly living in community care. BMC Geriatrics, 24(1), Article 4840. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12877-024-04840-6
• Dong, X. Q. (2015). Elder abuse: Systematic review and implications for practice. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 63(6), 1214–1238. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.13454
• Dong, X. Q., Chen, R., Fulmer, T., & Simon, M. A. (2014). Prevalence and correlates of elder mistreatment in a community-dwelling population of U.S. Chinese older adults. Journal of Aging and Health, 26(7), 1209–1224. https://doi.org/10.1177/0898264314531617
• Elbi, H., Altan, S., Rahman, S., Özyurt, B. C., Şahin, S., & Cam, S. (2015). The attitudes of medical students toward the elderly. Turkish Journal of Geriatrics, 18(4), 299–305.
• Ertan Koçak, Y., Buz, S., & Gözen, Ö. (2018). Türkiye’de yaşlılara sunulan hizmetlerin Birleşmiş Milletler yaşlılık ilkeleri çerçevesinde değerlendirilmesi: Ankara örneği. Journal of Academic Social Science, 77, 388–410. https://doi.org/10.16992/asos.14057
• Gündüz, P. G. T. (2018). Yaşlı bakım ve uygulamaları. Vize Yayıncılık.
• Hamadeh, R., Al-Enzi, A., Murshid, D., Al-Hassan, F., Al-Misrea, H., Al-Bassam, L., Al-Edrissy, M., Al-Baridi, S., & Al Tamimi, S. (2020). Knowledge and attitude of Arab adult females towards the elderly in the eastern province of Saudi Arabia. Pharmacophore, 11(6), 26–35. https://doi.org/10.51847/ubeb7sjank
• Hughes, N. J., Soiza, R. L., Chua, M., Hoyle, G. E., MacDonald, A., Primrose, W. R., & Seymour, D. G. (2008). Medical student attitudes toward older people and willingness to consider a career in geriatric medicine. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 56(2), 334–338. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1532-5415.2007.01552.x
• Ismail, A. H., Hussein, S. Z., Yasi, A. M., Ishak, N. I., Yazar, N. N. M., & Sabri, N. S. (2023). Attitudes toward caring for older adults among undergraduate nursing students at a public university in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Makara Journal of Health Research, 27(3), Article 6. https://doi.org/10.7454/msk.v27i3.1518
• Johannesen, M., & Logiudice, D. (2013). Elder abuse: A systematic review of risk factors in community-dwelling elders. Age and Ageing, 42(3), 292–298. https://doi.org/10.1093/ageing/afs195
• Kaker, D. J., Ovsenik, M., & Zupančič, J. (2016). Attitudes of social gerontology and physiotherapy students towards the elderly. Organizacija, 49(1), 55–69. https://doi.org/10.1515/orga-2016-0002
• Kogan, N. (1961). Attitudes toward old people: The development of a scale and an examination of correlates. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 62(1), 44–54. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0048053
• Laumann, E. O., Leitsch, S. A., & Waite, L. J. (2008). Elder mistreatment in the United States: Prevalence estimates from a nationally representative study. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 63(4), S248–S254. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/63.4.s248
• Leung, S., Logiudice, D., Schwarz, J., & Brand, C. (2011). Hospital doctors’ attitudes towards older people. Internal Medicine Journal, 41(4), 308–314. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-5994.2009.02140.x
• López-Hernández, L., Martínez-Arnau, F. M., Castellano-Rioja, E., Botella-Navas, M., & Pérez-Ros, P. (2021). Factors affecting attitudes towards older people in undergraduate nursing students. Healthcare, 9(9), Article 1231. https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare9091231
• Mandıracıoğlu, A., & Lüleci, N. E. (2015). Attitudes towards the elderly among Turkish pharmacy students. Turkish Journal of Geriatrics, 18(4). https://geriatri.dergisi.org
• Nor, N. N. F. M., & Ghazali, S. (2022). Supporting the elderly: The “Kenang Budi” concept within the Malay society in Malaysia. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 30(4), 1881–1893. https://doi.org/10.47836/pjssh.30.4.21
• Okamoto, N., Chieko, G., & Tomoko, O. (2019). Aging and care: Attitudes of undergraduate students towards elderly people. Ageing Science & Mental Health Studies, 3(4), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.31038/asmhs.2019344
• Rathnayake, S., Athukorala, Y., & Siop, S. (2016). Attitudes toward and willingness to work with older people among undergraduate nursing students in a public university in Sri Lanka. Nurse Education Today, 36, 439–444. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nedt.2015.10.007
• Seçer, M. B., İlçin, N., Seçer, E., & Göbel, Ö. (2019). Sağlıkla ilgili ve sağlık dışı bölümlerde okuyan üniversite öğrencilerinin yaşlı istismar ve ihmaline yönelik düşünceleri. Geriatrik Bilimler Dergisi, 2(2), 42–49.
• Shojaei, F., & Masoumi, N. (2014). Comparison of the attitudes of second and fourth year nursing students towards hospitalized elderly. Crescent Journal of Medical and Biological Sciences, 13–17.
• TÜİK. (2023). İstatistiklerle yaşlılar, 2023. https://data.tuik.gov.tr
• Türkyılmaz, A., Öngören, B., & Aydemir, İ. (2024). Analysis of students’ approaches and attitudes towards ageing and the elderly. International Journal of Gerontology, 18(4), 236–240. https://doi.org/10.6890/ijge.202410_18(4).0007
• World Health Organization. (2014). Crude prevalence of ageist attitude in the population. https://platform.who.int
• World Health Organization. (2021). Ageing and health. https://www.who.int/health-topics/ageing
• World Health Organization. (2025). Population ageing. https://www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/population-ageing
• Yáñez-Yáñez, R., Parra-Rizo, M. A., McArdle-Draguicevic, N., Valdés-Valdés, N., Rojas, G. A., Gamín, L., Lorca, P., Acevedo-Carrizo, F., Zapata-Lamana, R., Diaz-Vargas, C., & Cigarroa, I. (2022). Attitude towards older people according to sociodemographic and educational variables in students of a Chilean university. Geriatrics, 7(6), Article 130. https://doi.org/10.3390/geriatrics7060130