Examination of fear of old age in university students in the context of sociodemographic variables

Aging is a process that occurs over time and is irreversible, encompassing all of the physical, structural and functional changes in the organism. With the developing technology and social welfare policies in the human organism, where aging occurs day by day, various interventions have been carried out and the life expectancy of individuals has been extended. However, this situation has brought about the perception and memory weakness, physical weakness, hearing and vision problems seen in old age. Considering all these negative situations, people are afraid of aging and are worried about the social, physical and emotional situations that aging will bring. This situation increases the importance and expands the scope of elderly welfare and aging studies. Generally speaking, the architects of the construction process in the welfare society are today's youth. The attitudes of young people, who will contribute to social welfare in many areas, towards the elderly, aging and old age appear as a factor that shapes the future. In this context, this study aims to statistically reveal how the fear of old age, which is a factor affecting the attitudes of people under the age of 65 who are not yet classified as elderly, is shaped according to which sociodemographic characteristics. For this purpose, quantitative research method was used in the study, and the 15-question "Sociodemographic Information Form" and the 11-question "Fear of Old Age Scale" prepared by the researcher were used for data collection. The questionnaire was administered voluntarily to 406 individuals under the age of 65, who were not yet classified as elderly, by obtaining their consent via the Informed Consent Form. The data obtained were analyzed using one-sample t-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), independent sample t-test, non-parametric one-way variance analysis test and correlation analysis methods in the SPSS analysis program. It is thought that the data obtained from the research will be beneficial in terms of efficiency in the aging policies that will be developed in the future and will make important contributions to the structuring of new service models and processes. The findings of this study may raise awareness of the fear of old age and help reduce negative perceptions of the aging process. Additionally, understanding how negative feelings about aging vary among young people may help individuals in older adulthood accept aging more positively.