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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Aging Psychiatry
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2025.1436930

Predictive Model of Positive Attitudes in Spanish Health Care Students Towards elderly People: Assessment and Associated Factors

Provisionally accepted
Jesús González-Moreno Jesús González-Moreno 1Ana Isabel Agusti Lopez Ana Isabel Agusti Lopez 1Javier Guillem Saiz Javier Guillem Saiz 1María Antonia Parra Rizo María Antonia Parra Rizo 2María Cantero García María Cantero García 3*
  • 1 Valencian International University, Castelló de la Plana, Valencia, Spain
  • 2 Miguel Hernández University of Elche, Elche, Valencian Community, Spain
  • 3 Universidad a Distancia de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Attitudes influence how individuals interact toward older people, which in turn impacts the way people care for them. This is a key factor to consider for future health professionals who will frequently work with older individuals. This issue has been approached by simply quantifying these attitudes (negative, neutral, or positive). However, this work aims to not only quantify these attitudes but to study other associated variables and develop a predictive model of positive attitudes toward the older people in a sample of Spanish university students of health care careers.A total of 338 students were surveyed using a sociodemographic questionnaire and two validated scales: the Spanish versions of the Kogan Scale of Attitudes toward Older People (KAOP) and the Global Assessment of Character Strengths-24 (GACS-24).This study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional, ex post facto design, with data analyzed through correlation and regression techniques to identify predictors of positive attitudes toward older adults.The results exhibited significantly positive attitudes toward older people. The analysis identified "love" (a character strength) and "interest in aging issues" as significant predictors of these attitudes.This study concludes that positive attitudes toward older adults are significantly associated with the character strength of 'love' and 'interest in aging issues,' highlighting the importance of these variables in shaping attitudes among future health professionals.

    Keywords: Attitude, older adults, Aging, Character strengths, Heathcare

    Received: 22 May 2024; Accepted: 06 Jan 2025.

    Copyright: © 2025 González-Moreno, Agusti Lopez, Guillem Saiz, Parra Rizo and Cantero García. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: María Cantero García, Universidad a Distancia de Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.