This research, taking into account sex and previous occupational level, examines the influence of retirement on three dependent variables: loneliness, depression, and life satisfaction. One hundred and six men and women, aged 65 and receiving governmental pensions (Régie des rentes du Québec) completed on two occasions (with a one year interval) the Échelle de solitude de l'Université Laval, the Questionnaire de dépression de Beck and the Échelle de satisfaction de vie. The resulte indicate that there is no significant difference between Time 1 and Time 2 of evaluation on the three questionnaires (temporal view). However, from a cross-sectional perspective, newly retired men and professionals may be more lonely, less satisfied with their life and more depressed. The results are discussed in the light of Atchley's (1976b) model.

This paper explores similarities and differences in the way caring work is experienced by kin, homemakers and volunteers. Under the conceptual umbrella of working conditions, issues of work milieu, isolation, communication, feedback, autonomy, motivation and choice are compared across these three groups of care providers. Although the functional capacities of the elderly persons receiving care were quite similiar, the circumstances that surrounded the performance of caring were quite different. The paper argues that the context within which care is provided will be critical in future policy discussions. It is suggested that the specific task content of providing care may be of secondary importance to understanding the context within which care providers carry out these activities.

Secondary analysis of data from the Health and Activity Limitations Survey (HALS) in the metropolitan Montreal area shows that 3.5 out of 10 elderly persons living in a household had a disability. In this descriptive research, we locate the dependency level according to the attributes of the elderly and of their residence. Approximately three out of four elderly with a disability receive help and one out of three are assessed as needing more help. Assistance varies with the person who helps. The family mostly helps for everyday activities, friends for shopping, and private or governmental services for personal care and household tasks. Assistance varies also with the marital status of the elderly person. Finally, the presence of special devices is associated with type of housing.

In a sample of 1449 adults, divided by age into young, middle-age, and old, mood was found to consist of two age invariant components, vigour and affect. Factor structure differed by age for affect but not vigour. For old adults, two unipolar affect factors were obtained, whereas one bipolar affect factor was obtained for the two younger groups. From these factor analyses a mood scale (the Memorial University Mood Scale, the MUMS) was developed and its predictive validity and reliability established for all age groups. Using the MUMS, mean level differences by age were found in both vigour and affect, as well as a measure of globed mood, with the old adults higher on all three measures. Age invariant, diurnal patterns were found for both vigour and affect. Vigour followed an inverted U-shaped diurnal pattern and affect a primarily linear pattern, suggestive of appraisals of somatic state and environmental conditions, respectively.

This study was devised to determine the effectiveness of a pretherapy training procedure in enhancing group cognitive therapy for depressed older adults. Twenty-nine subjects were randomly assigned to a pretherapy training condition or an attention-placebo control condition. Subjects were 65 years of age or older, had a score of 14 or higher on the Beck Depression Inventory or on the Geriatric Depression Scale, and had no previous experience in psychotherapy. The pretherapy training procedure was based on Bandura's social cognitive theory and included verbal persuasion, vicarious experience, and performance accomplishment. The pretherapy training improved knowledge about psychotherapy and promoted the development of a problem-oriented focus in therapy. However it was unsuccessful in significantly reducing dropouts, increasing attendance, modifying role expectancies in the expected direction, and differentially affecting the outcome of cognitive therapy. For the experimental and control conditions taken together, 53.7 per cent of the subjects demonstrated clinically significant improvement at the end of therapy. Implications for research and clinical practice are discussed.

The interactional environment of institutionalized elders has been described as communication-impaired due to the lack of opportunities for ordinary adult-to-adult conversation. Patronizing speech from caregivers is one form of constraining communication that may frustrate elders within institutions. In this study, 256 adults (randomly assigned to one of 16 experimental conditions) evaluated either a patronizing conversation between a nurse and an elderly woman in a nursing home or a more neutral version of the same conversation. In a complex between-subjects design based on Communication Accommodation Theory, we examined the possible influences on the evaluation of patronizing speech of three manipulations: resident alertness, personal situational topic, and privacy of setting for the conversation. Across all contexts, the nurse using a patronizing speech style was viewed as less respectful and less nurturant than the nurse using the neutral style. The resident was considered less satisfied with the patronizing conversation. The situational topic manipulation yielded main effects for these same variables, with the nurse criticizing a resident about a personal issue being viewed as less respectful and nurturant than the nurse raising a safety issue. Moreover, the resident addressed about a personal issue was rated as less competent than the resident addressed about a safety issue. Situational topic interacted with speech style on only one measure, while resident alertness and privacy had no impact on the negative connotations of patronizing speech.

Previous papers reported on the associations between water quality and a measure of cognitive impairment, based on data of the Ontario Longitudinal Study of Aging (LSA). The present report summarizes the information on fluoride (F) and aluminum (Al) and provides additional information on the effects of pH. Specifically, our preliminary results suggest that a neutral pH, relatively low Al and relatively high F concentrations in drinking water decrease the odds of showing indications of cognitive impairment by a factor of about five, compared with other types of drinking water. The relevant chemical reaction is ascribed to an equilibrium involving Al complexes.

Despite a recognition of the importance of families in providing informal care to frail seniors, there is no consensus as to who constitutes the caregiving family. The authors discuss the current ideology about the caregiving family and the state of knowledge about its composition and propose that the caregiving family has actual and potential elements. Based on the assumption that the concept of “who's the family” is socially constructed, the authors argue that it is essential to understand “who's the family” from the perspective of primary caregivers in order to evaluate the nature of family support. This paper challenges the notion that the cargiving family is equivalent to the kin family. It is argued that the status quo in which a simplistic view of family caregiving is used to justify pressure on families to provide more care is not sustainable.

If one desires many meaningful and enriching years of retirement, one must plan and make the necessary transformations to one's psychological life structure. This means that a major revision of the dynamic organization of the dimensions of one's being and behaviour must be undertaken. A high level of consciousness of what one wants to become is essential. This involves first a strong will to change; then making the necessary ajustments to one's individual life structure.

Considering that gerontology must study elderly persons within the wider context of society's dynamic processes, as well as with a view of policy responses, this book by Beaujot is to be recommended. Demographic processes underlying the growth of the Third Age in Canada are presented in a clear, non-technical way and their policy consequences are analysed thoroughly. All the chapters are of interest to gerontologists, but particularly chapter 2 on health and mortality, chapter 7 on aging, parts of chapter 6 dealing with an aging workforce, and of chapter 8 which is devoted to the aging of households, not to mention chapter 4 on migration, which is often considered a solution to fertility decline and aging. On most subjects differing points of view are given their fair share, and the author presents his own views and policy options.