Comparing the perception of patterns of aging in adolescents and young adults based on grounded theory

Objectives: The present study was conducted in order to compare the perceptions of aging between young and adolescent individuals. The perception of aging is defined as the individual’s perception of one’s aging in their socio-cultural context. This concept subsumes all aspects of consciousness, perception, experience, assessment, interpretation, and cognition related to the process of aging. Method: This qualitative study was carried out according to the methods of grounded theory in 2019 in Tehran, Iran. A total of 20 young (10 males) and 17 adolescent (8 females) participants were selected by purposive sampling and the data were collected through semi-structured interviews until data saturation was reached. Results: 121 concepts were obtained in total, in which 83 were from interviews with adolescents and 37 from the young. After analysis and categorization of concepts, 32 sub-categories, including 18 related to adolescents and 14 related to the young, and 5 main categories, with 3 and 2 categories   related to adolescents and the young were found respectively. Conclusion: In comparing the pattern of perception of old age in adolescents and young people, although in terms of frequency and semantic diversity of categories, slight differences are observed in these two groups, but in terms of the process of formation and movement of the final pattern, no difference is seen between the two groups.