1. Why don’t you want to work with older adults?
Comparing students with and without an interest in geropsychology
Katherine King, PsyD Assistant Professor, Clinical Psychology
INTRODUCTION
RESULTS
Qualitative Results:
Survey Results:
There continues to be a shortage of mental health professionals to meet the needs of older adults. Geropsychology recruitment efforts might be facilitated or impeded by the aging-related beliefs, attitudes and life experiences of potential students.  
This exploratory study consisted of an online survey comparing students who reported having an interest in treating older adults (“interested”) to those with little to no interest (“uninterested”) in order to better understand both similarities and differences between the two groups.
What benefits or sources of satisfaction might a person experience by providing treatment to older adults?
Interested participants tended to report:
INTERESTED
UNINTERESTED
Survey Items
Mean SD
P-value
I think working with older adults is/would be rewarding.
3.48
0.77
2.94
0.64
0.0175*
One or both of my parents are deceased.
1.96
1.4
1.28
0.83
0.0673
My cultural background emphasizes that families have an obligation to take care of their elders.
3.52
0.82 3
1.08
0.0763
Thematic Categories
INTERESTED
UNINTERESTED
Personal growth
20%
32%
Facilitating treatment goals
28%
11%
Satisfaction of service
16%
37%
Benevolent stereotypes
n = 2
n = 1
Make you a better clinician
n = 0
Help an oppressed group
METHOD
Participants:
“Wisdom/experience from them. Upholding their dignity and helping them through what could be a lonely and scary period.” - Interested
“Seeing their peace and finding meaning of life; helping them to resolve old issues that they haven't dealt with; connecting them with their family or community again.” - Interested
Uninterested participants tended to report:
Age
Gender
Female
n = 39 (83%)
Male
n = 8 (17%)
Race/Ethnicity
Caucasian
n = 27 (57%)
African American, Latinx, Asian, Other
n = 20 (56%)
INTERESTED
UNINTERESTED
Survey Items
Mean SD
P-value
Working with older adults would be depressing.
1.96
0.79
2.89
0.96
0.001*
Working with older adults is/would be challenging.
2.8
0.65
3.39
0.6
0.0036*
I would prefer to avoid working with sick or dying clients.
1.02
3.33
0.77
<0.0001*
I am passionate about treating a different population than older adults.
3.12
0.78
3.61
0.85
0.0536
I have not had enough life experience to adequately treat older adults. 2 1
2.72
1.18
0.0342*
When you think about providing treatment to older adults, what personal concerns or hesitations come up for you?
Procedures:
Participants were recruited from a graduate program in counseling and psychology. Participants completed an online questionnaire with two open-ended questions followed by 17 four-point Likert scale survey items.
Thematic Categories
INTERESTED
UNINTERESTED
Concerns about sick or dying clients
12%
26%
Concern whether elders can be helped
16%
11%
Concerns about one’s skill and competence 0%
Concerns about age gap
20%
Negative stereotypes
RESULTS
Demographic Differences:
CONCLUSION
INTERESTED (n = 25)
Mean Age = (SD = 9.67)
32% Death of a Parent (n = 8)
UNINTERESTED (n = 19)
Mean Age= (SD = 8.93)
10% Death of a Parent (n = 2)
This exploratory study looked at attitudes, beliefs, and life experiences of students with and without an interest in geropsychology.
There were several significant differences between groups:
Uninterested participants were significantly more likely to endorse a desire to avoid sick or dying clients, beliefs that work with older adults would be depressing or challenging, and a concern that they lacked sufficient life experience to meet older adults’ needs.
Both interested and uninterested participants express concern about whether elders can be helped and how an age gap might influence their work.
Through targeted education, mentorship, and field experience, inaccurate beliefs among students may be malleable. Differences in beliefs across diverse groups, and how this may influence interest in geropsychology, warrants further investigation.
“I believe that because I am younger, older adults will think that I am unable to help them because I don't have much experience in life.”
- Interested
“I have worked with adults and it is hard to convince them that you are qualified when you are so much younger than them. And I also really want to work with a population who works hard to reach their goals. I find that older adults have often accepted their fate and take a ‘poor me’ approach.” - Uninterested
“Fear of becoming attached and losing them.” - Uninterested
“Dealing with death, stubbornness, sadness, despair.” - Uninterested
Disclosure: There are no financial conflicts of interest to disclose.
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