INTRODUCTION:

The human aging population is growing rapidly worldwide (WHO 2015). This rapid increase was due to scientific and technological advances; increased birth rates, reduced mortality rates; and health care improvements¹.

This increasing percentage of the elderly has a profound effect on a wide range of economic, political, and social processes, so it is important to improve the growing population and the proportion of the elderly. Studies show that aging can have an impact on how people are treated in the community and how they cope with the aging process².

Relationships between individuals and families over two generations are increasingly important in modern societies because they provide well-being and support during people’s lives³.

According to the report, grandparents care for their grandchildren for an average of more than 8 hours a week. In addition, two-thirds of grandparents provide financial assistance to raise their grandchildren, including clothing, toys, hobbies, leisure activities, and pocket money⁴.

Research on grandparents shows that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is generally very close and satisfying for both generations, although the concepts of grandparents' generational relationships show some conflicting elements⁵. The age of grandparents and grandchildren is related to the frequency of interactions between them and the quality of their relationship. Younger grandparents reported seeing their grandchildren significantly more than older ones, and younger children saw their grandparents more often than older children⁶.

Nurses, like other health professionals, are widely recognized for providing holistic care, including spiritual needs. They should be primarily responsible for providing care for the elderly in different healthcare settings⁷. In the same way, nursing students will be held accountable for their care standards for the elderly as future health care professionals. Caring for the elderly is affected by a number of factors such as students' cognitive abilities, skills, and attitudes⁸.

Most studies in this field often focus on Western cultures, but there is growing evidence that the views of the elderly may differ in different societies⁹. As people live longer and the aging population worldwide increases, it is becoming increasingly important to identify attitudes toward aging in society.

REVIEW OF LITERATURE:

A non-experimental descriptive design was adopted to accomplish the objectives of the study on the health status of elderly people at selected old-age homes. A sample of 500 elderly people was selected by using a convenient sampling technique. The standardized RAND 36-item health survey scale assesses the health status of elderly people. According to the study's findings, the majority of elderly people (79%) had a moderate health status, while 85(17%) had a good health status. The mean score of the health status was found to be 56.13 with a standard deviation of 16.136. The study concluded that elderly people have a moderate health status and that there is a need to improve the health status of the elderly¹⁰.

Attitudes toward the elderly have been affected by large societal changes that have happened over the past 100 years. In a study assessing the attitudes of middle-aged adults towards the elderly population, a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional descriptive study design was used for the present study. The convenience sampling technique was used to select the subjects, and the sample size was 100. A tool used to collect the data was a baseline proforma and attitude scale towards the elderly population to assess their attitude. The result of the study findings shows that 76(76%) of the middle-aged adults showed a favourable attitude towards the elderly population, whereas 24(24%) had a neutral attitude. There was a significant association between gender and the attitude of middle-aged adults towards the elderly population. (0.05 level of significance, p = 0.049). The study revealed that most middle-aged adults showed a positive attitude towards elderly people, and the males in the study had a greater positive attitude when compared to females¹¹.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM:

A comparative study to assess the attitude of male and female grandchildren towards their grandparents in selected college at Salem.

OBJECTIVES:

1. To assess the level of the attitude of male grandchildren towards their grandparents.

2. To assess the level of attitude of female grandchildren towards their grandparents.

3. To compare the level of attitude towards the grandparents between male and female grandchildren.

4. To determine the association of grandchildren’s attitude with grandparent’s demographic variables (occupation, place of residence, health status).

MATERIAL AND METHODS:

Research approach:

A quantitative research approach was adopted for this study.

Research design:

A Descriptive comparative research design was adapted.

Research setting:

The study was conducted atSona College of Engineering and Technology, Salem.

Population:

The population of the study consisted of all male and female students of engineering from Sona college of Engineering and Technology.

Sample:

The sample consists of male and female students between the ages of 17 and 19 years old at Sona College of Engineering and Technology.

Sampling Technique:

Used a non-probability convenient sampling technique

Sample Size:

The sample size for the study consists of 100 male and female students from Sona College of Engineering and Technology, Salem.

Description of Tool:

The tool consists of 2 parts.

Tool-I: Demographic Variables of the Sample:

It deals with the demographic data that was used to collect the characteristics of the sample. It included age, gender, grandparents' alive, education of the grandparent, occupation of the grandparent, and duration of the stay with the grandparents.

Tool II: Attitude Scale:

It consists of 30 questions with 4 options: strongly agree, agree, disagree, and strongly disagree, with a score of 4, 3, 2, and 1 respectively. The score will be reversed for the negative statements. There are 11 negative statements on the attitude scale. The score will be reversed for those statements. The total score is 120, and the minimum score is 30. The attitude is divided into two based on the scoring, such as unfavorable attitude (30–75) and favorable attitude (76–120).

Data collection procedure:

After obtaining written permission from the concerned authority, the data collection was done within the college premises between 9.00 AM and 4.00 PM. The samples were assured of confidentiality. The researcher made the students gather in a classroom according to the eligibility criteria. Written consent was obtained from each subject after explaining the purpose of the study. The questionnaire was provided to the samples. The data was collected by using the demographic tool and attitude scale. The researcher clarified the doubts that the subjects asked in between and the relevant data were collected from the samples. Each sample took 15 to 20 minutes to fill in the relevant data. The accuracy of the data was checked. The researcher got 5 to 10 samples per day. Scoring and grading were done based on the score.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION:

Section-I: Description of the demographic variables of the samples.

Table-1: Frequency and percentage distribution of samples based on their demographic variables. n=100

S. No	Demographic variables	Male grandchildren		Female grandchildren
S. No	Demographic variables	F	%	F	%
A 1.	Demographic variables of samples Age in years a. 17 years b. 18 years c. 19 years	19 17 14	38 34 28	20 17 13	40 34 26
2.	Gender
	a. Male	50	100	-	-
	b. Female	-	-	50	100
3.	Alive grandparents
	a. Paternal grandparent	21	42	16	32
	b. Maternal grandparent	10	20	14	28
	c. Both maternal and paternal grandparent	19	38	20	40
B. 4.	Demographic variables of grandparents Education of the grandparent a. No formal education b. Primary education c. Secondary education d. Higher secondary e. Graduate or Postgraduate	9 13 10 11 7	18 26 20 22 14	8 23 7 8 4	16 46 14 16 8
5.	Health status of grandparent a. Healthy b. Unhealthy	31 19	62 38	30 20	60 40
6.	Occupation of grandparent a. Unemployed b. Private Job c. Business d. Coolie/ Daily casual labor e. Govt. employee f. Retired	11 8 7 6 6 12	22 16 14 12 12 24	13 6 12 7 5 7	26 12 24 14 10 14
7.	Duration of stay with grandparent a. 5 years b. 10 years c. 15 years d. More than 15 years	6 10 12 22	12 20 24 44	6 6 12 26	12 12 24 52

Table 1 shows that, out of 100 samples, 39(78%) were 17 years of age, 34(68%) were 18 years of age, and 27(54%) were 19 years of age. 50(100%) were male and 50(100%) were female. 37(74%) had a living paternal grandparent, 24(48%) had a living maternal grandparent, and 29(58%) had both maternal and paternal grandparents. 17(34%) of their grandparents have no formal education; 36(72%) have primary education; 17(34%) have secondary education; 19(38%) have higher secondary education; and 13(26%) have graduate or postgraduate education. 61(%) were healthy, and 39(%) were unhealthy. 24(48%) of their grandparents were unemployed; 14(28%) had a private job, 19(38%) had a business, 13(26%) had casual labor, 11(22%) worked for the government, and 19(38%) were retired. 12(24%) have stayed with their grandparents for 5 years 16 (32%) stayed for ten years. 24(48%) stayed 15 years and 48(96%) stayed more than 15 years.

Section–II: Percentage Distribution of Samples Based On the Level of Attitude towards Grandparents

This section deals with the details of the assessment of the attitude of male and female grandchildren towards their grandparents by using an attitude scale.

Figure 1: Cylindrical diagram of sample percentage distribution based on attitude toward grandparents.

Figure-1 shows that out of 100 samples, 41 (82%) male samples had a favourable attitude, 9 (18%) male samples had an unfavourable attitude, 43 (86%) female samples had a favourable attitude, and 7 (14%) female samples had an unfavourable attitude.

The finding supported by the other research was that research on grandparenthood has shown that the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren is usually quite close and satisfying for both generations, although grandparents’ conceptualizations of intergenerational relationships show some conflictual elements. Grandparents reported ambivalent feelings regarding childcare provision. They also expressed feelings of happiness and satisfaction when pointing out that supporting grandchildren would be the most demanding of grandparents¹².

Section-III: Item Wise Analysis of Level of Attitude among Samples towards Their Grandparents.

This section deals with the item-wise assessment of the level of attitude among the male and female samples towards their grandparents. The items are based on various aspects.

Table-2: Item wise distribution of level of attitude among male samples. n=50

S. No	Item	Attitude of male samples
		Strongly agree		Agree		Disagree		Strongly disagree
		F	%	F	%	F	%	F	%
1.	My grandparent used to give me a company when I am at home	22	44	16	32	6	12	6	12
2.	My grandparents consoles me when I am hurt	18	36	12	24	11	22	9	18
3.	My grandparents take care of me when I am sick.	20	40	8	16	9	18	13	26
4	My grandparents interfere in my personal matters always which I doesn’t like.	16	32	14	28	11	22	12	24
5	My grandparents rarely used to take care of me when I am sick.	17	34	12	24	15	30	6	12
6.	My grandparents used to play with me in my favourite games.	12	24	12	24	9	18	17	34
7	My grandparents used to scold me always even I am hurt.	18	36	12	24	11	22	9	18
8	My grandparents used to encourages me in my hobbies such as music, dance, painting etc.	19	38	22	44	3	6	6	12
9	My grandparents used to entertain my friends who visit our house.	25	50	8	16	11	22	5	10
10	My grandparents used to fight, argue, shout with my neighbours.	22	44	12	24	8	16	8	16
11	My grandparents are always there to support me when I faces a problem.	29	58	8	16	7	14	6	12
12	My grandparents shows more nurturing even when I do mistakes.	28	56	6	12	7	14	9	18
13	My grandparents used to a company me when I am going to/coming back from school.	22	44	17	34	11	22	5	10
14	My grandparents never used to appreciate me when I get some awards in curricular and co-curricular activities.	19	38	17	34	7	14	13	26
15	My grandparents are loving and honest.	21	42	18	36	4	8	7	14
16	My grandparents never show any partiality towards my family members in any measures.	16	32	14	28	13	26	7	14
17	My grandparents are not willing to listen when in telling him what happens in my school.	23	46	13	26	3	6	11	22
18	My grandparent’s health problems sometimes irritate me.	18	36	14	28	8	16	10	20
19	My grandparents used to appreciate me for my academic and co-curricular achievements.	21	42	10	20	7	14	12	24
20	My grandparents talking are monotonous and boring.	21	42	10	20	13	26	6	12
21	My grandparents used to tell story or jokes often.	19	38	16	32	9	18	6	12
22	My grandparent’s advices irritate me always.	17	34	10	20	17	34	13	26
23	My grandparents are very careful in me to choose friends.	23	46	14	28	8	16	5	10
24	My grandparents are willing to listen when I tell him what happens in my school.	20	40	25	50	5	10	-	-
25	My grandparents insist on high discipline even on light aspects.	26	52	6	12	9	18	9	18
26	My grandparents keep a good relation with neighbours.	18	36	14	28	11	22	7	14
27	My grandparents never used to encourages me in my hobbies such as music, dance, painting etc.	20	40	11	22	8	16	11	22
28	My grandparent’s way of eating, cooking is inspiring me.	16	32	13	26	13	26	8	16
29	I would like to take care of my grandparents when they are sick [giving them medicine, combing their hair, assist them in walk].	25	50	9	18	10	20	6	12
30	My grandparents used to give me money occasionally such as [festivals, birthdays, and marriages].	23	46	10	20	13	26	4	8

Table-3: Item wise distribution of female samples based on their level of attitude. n=50

S. No	Item	Attitude of female samples
		Strongly agree		Agree		Disagree		Strongly disagree
		F	%	F	%	F	%	F	%
1.	My grandparent used to give me a company when I am at home	25	50	16	32	8	16	1	2
2.	My grandparents consoles me when I am hurt	19	38	20	40	9	18	2	4
3.	My grandparents take care of me when I am sick.	17	34	18	36	12	24	3	6
4	My grandparents interfere in my personal matters always which I don’t like.	24	48	20	40	6	12	-	-
5	My grandparents rarely used to take care of me when I am sick.	23	46	19	38	4	8	4	8
6.	My grandparents used to play with me in my favourite games.	24	48	16	32	7	14	1	2
7	My grandparents used to scold me always even I am hurt.	22	44	14	28	11	22	3	6
8	My grandparents used to encourages me in my hobbies such as music, dance, painting etc.	38	76	7	14	5	10	-	-
9	My grandparents used to entertain my friends who visit our house.	28	56	10	20	6	12	6	12
10	My grandparents used to fight, argue, shout with my neighbours.	18	36	26	52	2	4	4	8
11	My grandparents are always there to support me when I face a problem.	21	42	18	36	10	20	1	2
12	My grandparents shows more nurturing even when I do mistakes.	23	46	25	50	2	4	-	-
13	My grandparents used to a company me when I am going to/coming back from school.	29	58	20	40	1	2	-	-
14	My grandparents never used to appreciate me when I get some awards in curricular and co-curricular activities.	30	60	15	30	5	10	-	-
15	My grandparents are loving and honest.	27	54	13	26	10	20	-	-
16	My grandparents never show any partiality towards my family members in any measures.	25	50	20	40	4	8	1	2
17	My grandparents are not willing to listen when in telling him what happens in my school.	33	66	13	26	4	8	-	-
18	My grandparent’s health problems sometimes irritate me.	30	60	15	30	4	8	1	2
19	My grandparents used to appreciate me for my academic and co-curricular achievements.	20	40	26	52	4	8	-	-
20	My grandparents talking are monotonous and boring.	30	60	11	22	7	14	2	4
21	My grandparents used to tell story or jokes often.	20	40	27	54	1	2	2	4
22	My grandparent’sadvices irritates me always.	34	68	8	16	5	10	3	6
23	My grandparents are very careful in me to choose friends.	36	72	5	10	9	18	-	-
24	My grandparents are willing to listen when I tell him what happens in my school.	33	66	10	20	7	14	-	-
25	My grandparents insist on high discipline even on light aspects.	29	58	12	24	5	10	4	8
26	My grandparents keep a good relation with neighbours.	20	40	21	42	3	6	6	12
27	My grandparents never used to encourages me in my hobbies such as music, dance, painting etc.	23	46	17	34	7	14	3	6
28	My grandparent’s way of eating, cooking are inspiring me.	25	50	18	36	5	10	2	4
29	I would like to take care of my grandparents when they are sick [giving them medicine, combing their hair, assist them in walk].	22	44	19	38	8	16	1	2
30	My grandparents used to give me money occasionally such as [festivals, birthdays, and marriages].	30	60	12	24	8	16	-	-

Section-IV: Comparison of Attitude towards Grandparents between Male And Female Grandchildren

This section deals with the comparison of attitudes among the male and female samples towards their grandparents. The mean and standard deviation were calculated for both male and female samples. Using the unpaired-test, the comparison was checked.

Table- 4: Mean, Standard deviation and mean unpaired ‘t’ score on level of attitude n=100

S. No	Groups	Maximum score	Mean	SD	Unpaired ‘t’ value
1	Male	120	93.84	14.09	1.880^NS
2	Female	120	88.56	13.98	1.880^NS

NS – Not significant at P<0.05 level; df = 98; table value=1.880

The table 4 shows that the maximum possible score is 120. The mean score of 50 male samples was 93.84 and 50 female samples were 88.56, with SD of 14.09 and 13.98. The unpaired‘t’ value is 1.880. The unpaired‘t’ value of 1.880 is less than the table value (1.96) at a 0.05 level of significance. So that the attitude of the male and female grandchildren would be the same.

The study finding supported by another study was that a cross-section study examined the influence of Saudi nursing students' religiosity on their attitudes toward older people and their perceptions of elderly care. A sample of 175 nursing students from a government university in Saudi Arabia was surveyed using Kogan's Attitudes toward Older People Scale, the Perspectives on Caring for Older Adults Scale, and the Muslim Religious Index. Students reported they are religious, they have modest attitudes towards older people, and they have a neutral perception of old age care¹³.

Section-V: Association between the levels of attitude among the samples with their grandparent’s demographic variables.

This section deals with the association between the level of attitude and their grandparents' (i) health status, (ii) occupation, and (iii) education. The cross-tabulation analysis was employed effectively, and the result of the chi-squared analysis was observed.

Table-5: Chi-square analysis on the level of attitude among the samples with their grandparent’s Demographic Variables.

Sl. No	Variables	$χ 2$	Df	Table value	Inference
01	Health status	$0.5$	1	3.84	Non-Significant
02	Occupation	1.39	5	11.07	Non-Significant
03	Education	12.6	4	9.49	Significant

Table 5 shows the chi-square analysis of the level of attitude of the samples with their grandparents' selected demographic data. There was a significant association found between the grandchildren and the education of their grandparents. This finding is supported by the continuity of the grandchild-grandparent relationship shown by Manson et al. (2017), who found a positive association between perceived affection from grandparents and grandchildren's perceptions of grandparents and their relationship¹⁴.

CONCLUSION:

These findings show that grandparents place more emphasis on their educators and supporting roles. This educational role is carried out through activities shared with the grandchildren. The findings are supported by a study conducted on attitudes and emotions, which emerged as the final components in the change in the interaction between grandparents and grandchildren. Participants described a shift in their attitudes about their grandparents from childhood to maturity, with exuberance giving way to gratitude and respect¹⁵.

REFERENCE:

1. World Health Organization (WHO). (2015). World report on ageing and health. Retrieved November 9, 2018, from http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs404/en/.

2. Levy, B. R., Slade, M. D., Chung, P. H., and Gill, T. M. (2016). Resiliency over time of elder’s age stereotypes after encountering stressful events. Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences, 70, 886–890.

3. Buchanan, A., and Rotkirch, A. (2018). Twenty-first century grandparents: Global perspectives on changing roles and consequences. Contemporary Social Science, 13(2), 131–144. doi:10.1080/21582041.2018.1467034

4. International Longevity Centre. (2017). The grandparent army. Retrieved from http://www.ilcuk.org.uk/index.php/ publications/publication_details/the_grandparents_army

5. vonHumboltd, S., Monteiro, A., and Leal, I. (2018). How do older adults experience intergenerational relationships? Different cultures, ambivalent feelings. Educational Gerontology, 44(8), 501–513. doi:10.1080/ 03601277.2018.1520528

6. Sciplino, C., and Smith, P. (2015, September). Grandchildren-grandparents relationships in United Kingdom, Italy and Greece. Paper session presented at the 17th European Conference on Developmental Psychology, Braga, Portugal.

7. Zamanzadeh, V., Jasemi, M., Valizadeh, L., Keogh, B., and Taleghani, F. (2015). Efective factors in providing holistic care: A qualitative study. Indian Journal of Palliative Care, 21(2), 214–224.

8. Celik, S. S., Kapucu, S., Tuna, Z., and Akkus, Y. (2010). Views and attitudes of nursing students towards ageing and older patients. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing, 27(4), 24.

9. Luo, B., Zhou, K., Jin, E. J., Newman, A., and Liang, J. (2013). Ageism among college students: A comparative study between U.S. and China. Journal of Cross-Cultural Gerontology, 28, 49–63.

10. Vishakantamurthy D G, Naveen Kumar A C, Manjula S. Health Status of Elderly people at selected old age homes in Chamarajanagar District. International Journal of Advances in Nursing Management. 2022; 10(1):33-4. doi: 10.52711/2454-2652.2022.00008 Available on: https://ijanm.com/AbstractView.aspx?PID=2022-10-1-8

11. Sonia Karen, Liz Sequera. Attitude of the middle aged adults towards Elderly population at selected setting, Mangaluru. Asian J. Nursing Education and Research. 2018; 8(1): 163-166.

12. vonHumboltd, S., Monteiro, A., and Leal, I. (2018). How do older adults experience intergenerational relationships? Different cultures, ambivalent feelings. Educational Gerontology, 44(8), 501–513. doi:10.1080/ 03601277.2018.1520528.

13. Alshehry, A.S., Almazan, J.U. and Alquwez, N. Influence of Religiosity on the Saudi Nursing Students’ Attitudes Toward Older People and Perceptions on Elderly Care. J Relig Health 59, 2701–2714 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10943-019-00857-z

14. Mansson, D. H., Floyd, K., and Soliz, J. (2017). Affectionate communication is associated with emotional and relational resources in the grandparent-grandchild relationship. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 15(2), 85–103. doi:10.1080/15350770.2017.1294007

15. Mansson, D. H. (2016). The joy of grandparenting: A qualitative analysis of grandparents. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 14(2), 135–145. doi:10.1080/15350770.2016.1160738

Received on 27.06.2022 Modified on 24.09.2022

Int. J. of Advances in Nur. Management. 2023; 11(1):13-18.

DOI: 10.52711/2454-2652.2023.00004