Motivo della scelta degli articoli: Nell'articolo di base del nostro gruppo l'argomento principale riguardava le differenze individuali

nei tratti di personalit riguardo all'invecchiamento, prendendo in esame anche il modo in cui si manifestava nelle differenti personalit l'ansia riguardo a questo processo. Nel lavoro individuale ho preferito scegliere cinque articoli che prendessero in esame, il processo finale stesso, ovvero l'ageism. I cinque articoli da me scelti prendono in esame alcune delle caratteristiche della vecchiaia che pi tendono ad essere temute nell'immaginario collettivo e a diversi problemi presenti in questa fase della vita, tra cui di sicuro la paura pi comune ovvero l'avvicinarsi della morte, triste realt che purtroppo accompagna la vita delle persone pi anziane che devono inevitabilmente convivere con questa consapevolezza. Tramite questi articoli quindi ho cercato di approfondire i miti e i fatti sulla vecchiaia, miti e fatti che inevitabilmente influenzano i pregiudizi e i concetti che i giovani sviluppano su questa fase della vita.

[Amy Fiske,1 Julie Loebach Wetherell,2 and Margaret Gatz] Vol. 5: 363-389 (Volume publication date April 2009) Depression in Older Adults Annual Review of Clinical Psychology

Depression is less prevalent among older adults than among younger adults, but it can have serious consequences. More than half of cases represent a first onset in later life. Although suicide rates in the elderly are declining, they are still higher than in younger adults and are more closely associated with depression. Depressed older adults are less likely to endorse affective symptoms and more likely to display cognitive changes, somatic symptoms, and loss of interest than are depressed younger adults. Risk factors leading to the development of late-life depression likely comprise complex interactions among genetic vulnerabilities, cognitive diathesis, age-associated neurobiological changes, and stressful events. Insomnia is an often overlooked risk factor for late-life depression. We suggest that a common pathway to depression in older adults, regardless of which predisposing risks are most prominent, may be curtailment of daily activities. Accompanying self-critical thinking may exacerbate and maintain a depressed state. Offsetting the increasing prevalence of certain risk factors in late life are age-related increases in psychological resilience. Other protective factors include higher education and socioeconomic status, engagement in valued activities, and religious or spiritual involvement. Treatments including behavioral therapy, cognitive-behavioral therapy, cognitive bibliotherapy, problem-solving therapy, brief psychodynamic therapy, and life review/reminiscence therapy are effective but are too infrequently used with older adults. Preventive interventions including education for individuals with chronic illness, behavioral activation, cognitive restructuring, problem-solving skills training, group support, and life review have also received support.

[Thomas F. Oltmanns,1 and Steve Balsis] Vol. 7: 321-349 (Volume publication date April 2011) Annual Review of Clinical Psychology First published online as a Review in Advance on January 10, 2011 Personality Disorders in Later Life: Questions About the Measurement, Course, and Impact of Disorders

Abstract: Lifespan perspectives have played a crucial role in shaping our understanding of many forms of psychopathology. Unfortunately, little attention has been given to personality disorders in middle adulthood and later life. Several issues are responsible for this deficiency, including difficulty applying the diagnostic criteria for personality disorders to older people and challenges in identifying appropriate samples of older participants. The goal of this review is to explore the benefits of considering older adults in the study of personality disorders. Later life offers a unique opportunity for investigators to consider links between personality pathology and consequential outcomes in people's lives. Many domains are relevant, including health, longevity, social adjustment, marital relationships, and the experience of major life events. We review each domain and consider ways in which the study of middle-aged and older adults challenges researchers to evaluate how personality disorders in general are defined and measured.

[John W. Riley, Jr.] Annual Review of Sociology Vol. 9: 191-216 (Volume publication date August 1983) Dying and the Meanings of Death: Sociological Inquiries Abstract: This review takes off from the remarkable decline in mortality as one of the most striking features of the social history of the past century. Most deaths now occur not among the young but among the old. Death, thus postponed, is taking on new meanings for both the individual and society. Three lines of sociological inquiry over the past two decades, together with an extensive bibliography, are critically reviewed. First, the literature on dying and the self includes dying as a social process, dying trajectories, attitudes toward death, and the potentially mortal impact of such social stressors as retirement, residential relocation, and economic change. Second, a broad and often confusing literature deals with bereavement, grief, and the meaning of loss by death to surviving significant others, touching upon such topics as the broken heart syndrome, widowhood, types of death and bereavement, and anticipatory grief. Third, sociological inquiries examine the norms and social structures found in all societies for defining and managing dying and the consequences of death. Although no satisfactory sociology of death has yet been written, four influential theories of deathin-society are noted: by Parsons, Blauner, Marshall, and Fox. On balance, the review sees a promising future for sociological inquiries on death and dying and concludes that the meanings of death are in a process of continuing transformation. Some of the key questions yet to be answered are: Will socialization for death become a recognized reality? Will dying persons seek to maintain an even greater sense of autonomy? Will passive euthanasia create fewer moral dilemmas? Will suicide continue as the final alternative for increasing numbers of older people? Will new patterns of bereavement emerge for the future population of widows? Will new caring environments for the terminally ill be institutionalized? Will the concept of a good death gain wider acceptance? An agenda for continued sociological inquiry appears to be in hand.

International Psychogeriatrics. Vol.23(8), Oct 2011, pp. 1197-1204 [Bodner E.] Background: Previous studies have found correlations between negative perceptions of old age and perceived quality of life (QoL) among elderly people. It has also been suggested that a denial of aging mechanism is employed and might support ageist attitudes among private-sheltered housing tenants compared with elderly people who live in the community and experience intra-generational

interactions. Therefore, we hypothesized that tenants of sheltered housing will report more ageist attitudes towards people of their own age, and report a lower QoL than elderly people who live in the community. Methods: The sample included 126 volunteers, aged between 64 and 94 years, who live in private-sheltered housing (n = 32) or in the community (n = 94). The participants completed the Fraboni scale of ageism, and a QoL Inventory (SF-36). Results: People, and men in particular, who live in sheltered housing, reported more intergenerational ageist attitudes than men and women who live in the community. Tenants in sheltered housing expressed lower evaluations of their mental health, but higher evaluations on "social functioning" (QoL scales). Women from sheltered housing reported better mental health than men. Gender and some QoL scales were associated with higher ageism. Conclusions: Differences in ageist attitudes between both dwelling places can be interpreted according to Social Identity Theory, which refers to the impact of the ingroup on social attitudes. Differences in QoL can be understood by the accessibility of social activities in private-sheltered housing. Gender differences in ageism and QoL can be explained by women's better social adjustment. Findings should be regarded with caution because of the small sample. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved) (journal abstract) Ryan, Patrick [Ed]; Coughlan, Barry J [Ed]. (2011). Ageing and older adult mental health: Issues and implications for practice. (pp. 36-49). xiii, 277 pp. New York, NY, US: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group; US. Abstract: (from the chapter) At the outset, it is useful to establish what is meant by the notion of ageism. Like any other emotive issue, the very use of the concept can offer it a face validity, particularly when it becomes part of the vocabulary of the general population. Those who are exposed to it argue strongly for its endemic presence in society whereas sceptics might argue that the concept can be applied to all ages at all stages in life if we simply listen to how people cope with the human condition as it develops from conception to death. The use of age to separate different cohorts of society is not unusual, so why make this a particular issue when dealing with older adults? Ageism can be seen as a 'process of systematic stereotyping of and discrimination against people because they are old, just as racism and sexism accomplish this for skin colour and gender' (Butler & Lewis, 1973: 30). The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union (2000: Chapter III, Article 21(1)), asserts that 'Any discrimination based on any ground such as sex, race, colour, ethnic or social origin, genetic features, language, religion or belief, political or any other opinion, membership of a national minority, property, birth, disability, age or sexual orientation shall be prohibited'. So clearly, there exists a philosophy that to make older adults vulnerable on the basis of age is inherently wrong. But how is the concept managed in critical thinking? (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)