JOURNAL OF AGING PSYCHOLOGY
Year:2019 | Volume:5 | Issue:3 |Papers Count:7

Increased depression and feelings of loneliness as well as decreased social adjustment are among the most common psychological states in the elderly that may lead to several possible reactions. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of life-reviewing techniques on social adjustment, coherence and integration, and loneliness in elders. The research included pre-test and post-test design with control group. The statistical population consisted all elderly women living in day care centers in Khorramabad in 2019. Purposeful sampling was performed on all statistical population individuals eligible to the study. After completing Bell's social adjustment questionnaire, Flensberg's coherence and integrity, and Dehshiri et al. 's sense of loneliness, 30 subjects with the lowest scores in each component were randomly divided into experimental and control groups (n=15). The experimental group received 6 sessions of 90-minute training with the review techniques of Haight and Webster. Finally, posttest was administered to both groups. A follow-up test was also performed on the experimental group after one month. Data were analyzed using one-way covariance analysis in SPSS software version 22. The results of data analysis showed that life review therapy was effective to reduce loneliness, social adjustment and coherence and integration in the elderly (P <0. 001). Reminding the memories of past as a treatment reduced isolation and loneliness in elderly, improving their sense of independence and self-reliance increased coherence and integrity, and involved them in a process of improvement, reviewing and re-examining the hardships and shortcomings of their lives. Getting rid of rumors and resolving old conflicts leads to improved social adjustment. Since this treatment was more well-known and tangible for the elderly, it could be used as an alternative treatment or complementary therapy in elderly counseling.

Anxiety and depression are the most common psychological disorders in old age. Reminiscence is a part of the normal life cycle in elderly that prepares them to face death, resolve past conflicts, gain existential integrity, and find the importance of positive life and self-esteem. Therefore, the present study aimed to determine the effect of structured group memory on reducing anxiety and depression in the elderly in Maragheh. It was a semi-experimental study with pretest-posttest design and control group. The statistical population of the study included all retirees of Maragheh Retirement Center who experienced anxiety and depression disorder. Participants included 46 elderly men (95-65 years) selected through convenience sampling according to inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into two experimental and control groups (n=23). The experimental group received structured reminiscence sessions for eight sessions of 60 to 90 minutes once a week, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Participants responded to the Beck Anxiety Inventory and Beck Depression Inventory. The data were analyzed by one-way covariance analyses using SPSS 23 software. The results showed that structured memory significantly reduced anxiety and depression in the experimental group. Therefore, it is recommended that reminiscence training be used to reduce anxiety and depression in the elderly.

Elderly people get psychologically impaired for a variety of reasons including physical impairments, so the necessity of intervention to improve their mental well-being, positive meta emotion, and self-management seems essential. Consequently, this study aimed to determine the effectiveness of positivism training on mental well-being, positive meta emotion and self-management ability of elder women. The present study was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and experimental and control groups. Statistical population of the study consisted of all elderly women attending nursing home in Tehran in 2019, 60 of whom were selected through convenience sampling method and were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups. The experimental group received 8 sessions of 75-minute positivism training and the control group did not receive any training. Also, samples were required to answer Keyes & Magyar-Moe’ s subjective well-being questionnaire, Mitmansgruber et al. positive meta-emotion subscale and Schumans et al. self-management ability scale. Data were analyzed by SPSS software version 22 using one-way analysis of covariance. Results showed a significant difference between experimental and control groups in terms of subjective well-being, positive meta emotion and self-management ability. In other words, positivism training increased mental well-being, positive meta emotion and self-management ability in elder women (P<0. 001). Based on the results, it is recommended that counselors and psychologists in nursing homes use positivism training along with other methods to improve mental well-being, positive meta emotion and self-management ability in elderly.

Improving motor performance in elderly and distinguishing their condition to retrain skills is one of the challenges that any community faces. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of autonomy support and enhancing expectancies on motor learning in elderly women. It was a semi-experimental study including pretest and posttest design with retention test. 40 women were selected among all elderly women in Andimeshk according to inclusion criteria and availability, with the age range of 60 to 80. Samples were randomly divided into four groups as autonomy support, enhancing expectancies, autonomy support and enhancing expectancies, and control. Participants were required to throw bags (100 g) with their non-dominant arm at a specific target on the ground. After five throws as a pretest, all participants performed 6 phases of 10 trials in the acquisition phase. 24 hours after the acquisition stage, participants attended retention test (with 10 trials) to check learning effects on them. To analyzing data, one way and multiple variance analyses were conducted using SPSS16 at significance level P≤ 0. 05. The results showed that in acquisition and training phases, all groups significantly increased their accuracy (P≤ 0. 05), though difference among groups was not meaningful (P≥ 0. 05). Also, results detected better performance of autonomy support and enhancing expectancies group in retention phase (P≤ 0. 05). Therefore, motor therapists, coaches, and all those associated with the elderly were suggested to use influencing factors to improve elders learning and motor performance.

Given the increase in elderly population, it seems inevitable to investigate and comprehend related to elderly complications. Therefore, the present study aimed to predict death anxiety based on personality types and mental profile in elderly in Shiraz. It was a descriptive-correlational study. For this purpose, 150 elderly people living in Shiraz nursing homes were selected non-randomly through their ability in 2019. To investigate the variables of the study, three tests of Templar death anxiety, Goldberg mental health (GHQ) and McCrae and Costa 5-factor personality (NEO) were used. Data were analyzed using correlation and regression methods. Findings showed that personality types and psychological profile accounted for about 45% and 25% of the variance of death anxiety scores, respectively. Also, neuroticism could predict death anxiety in elderly meaningfully and positively, while such prediction was meaningful and negative with extraversion and accountability. Significantly, they are able to predict death anxiety in the elderly. According to the results of this study and considering the important role of personality and mental health to death anxiety, it can be concluded that informing elderly and making use of strategies to improve their mental health could decrease death anxiety among them.

Marital intimacy is one of the important components of quality of marital life in different periods of age. Cognitive failure and mindfulness as psychological factors may explain marital intimacy among people. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the mediating role of cognitive failure in the relationship between mindfulness and marital intimacy among elderly. It was a descriptive correlation study with path analysis method based on partial least squares approach. The statistical population of the study included the elderly in Rasht, Iran. In this research 110 elderly were selected through voluntary sampling method in 2017 and responded to Thompson & walker marital intimacy scale, Walach et al. cognitive failures questionnaire and Broadbent et al. short form of mindfulness inventory. The gathered data were analyzed by Spss-23 and SmartPLS-2 software. Findings showed that mindfulness negatively predicted cognitive failure and positively predicted marital intimacy (P>0. 01). Also, mindfulness could indirectly predict marital intimacy with the mediating role of cognitive failure (P>0. 01). The findings of this study highlighted the importance of mindfulness and cognitive failure in explaining marital intimacy in elderly. Thus, holding courses to develop mindfulness skills could help to improve cognitive empowerment and quality of married life among elderly.

In recent decades, the number of the elderly has been on the rise, and because of their age, they demand certain health, hygienic, mental and physical care. Research indicated aging as an influential factor leading to sleep disorders and, therefore, the present paper aimed to predict sleep disorders based on coping skills and mindfulness among the elderly in a nursing home in Kermanshah, Iran. It was a descriptive correlational study. The research sample included all the elderly people staying in the nursing homes in 2018-19. The sample size was 125 individuals who were selected based on cluster sampling. To collect data, Baer mindfulness questionnaire, Endler and Parker coping strategies questionnaire, Berlin sleep apnea questionnaire, and Zomer sleep disorders questionnaire were used. SPSS software and multiple regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that coping and mindfulness skills could predict sleep disorders among the elderly, so to improve control and concentration in the target group, it was recommended that they attend mindfulness skill workshops. It was also suggested that in elderly people suffering from sleep disorders, problem solving coping strategy must be prioritized over preventive and emotional-based coping skills.