JOURNAL OF AGING PSYCHOLOGY
Year:2016 | Volume:2 | Issue:1 |Papers Count:7

In recent years the elderly population considerably has increased. The elderly population due to decreased of activity and mobility, the loss of friends and relatives, reducing of social protection, physical weakness and social exclusion more experience feelings such as loneliness and death anxiety. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of existential therapy on loneliness and death anxiety in the elderly. This research method was quasi-experimental with pretest-posttest and control group. The study population consisted all older people living in nursing rehabilitation home in Ara center at 2015-16 in Sanandaj. Firstly, loneliness and death anxiety questionnaire was completed by all the elderly and then among them who had earned an equal or above score from cut point in loneliness and anxiety questionnaires, thirty subjects were randomly selected and randomly assigned in experimental (n=15) and control groups (n=15). Then, the existential therapy was administered for experimental group in 10 sessions and the control group was not receiving any training. Finally posttest was conducted for experimental and control groups. Data was analyzed by using the covariance analysis. Results showed that the existential therapy had been effective on decreasing of feeling of loneliness and death anxiety in experimental group. Thus, the need for use of treatments focused on the mood and emotional problem of elderly population especially reducing of loneliness and death anxiety is necessary.

Aging is unavoidable period of everybody's life that cognition and property response to it, can improve the life quality. Good life quality is associated with Happiness. The aim of the present study was to predict Happiness امه based on Five Factor model of Personality and Meta-Cognitive Beliefs in elderly people. That study was Descriptive-Correlation. The study includes a sample of 200 elderly who were resident at Tehran Nursing House at 2015 and participants were selected by Cluster Random Sampling method. Measuring tools included Oxford Happiness Questionnaire, NEO Personality Inventory (short form) and Meta-Cognitive Beliefs Questionnaire (MCQ-30) that filled by participants. In order to analyze obtained data Pearson Product Moment Correlation and Multiple Regression method were employed. Statistical results indicated a negative significant Correlation between Neuroticism with Happiness and positive significant Correlation between Extroversion with Happiness. Also about subscales of Meta-Cognitive Beliefs, Positive Beliefs about Worry showed a negative significant relationship with Happiness. Results indicated that Neuroticism, Extroversion and Positive Beliefs about Worry were strong predictors of Happiness. Neuroticism and Extroversion explained 30.9% and Positive Beliefs about Worry 6.4% of the variance of Happiness.

The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Massage Therapy, Alexander Technique, and Dohsa-hou treatment on happiness, social adjustment, hope, mental health and quality of life in the elderly with Parkinson's disease. The research was quasi-experimental. The statistical population of this study was all the elderly with Parkinson' s disease who referred to clinics in Isfahan in 2015. Among them, 42 patients were selected through convenience sampling and were divided randomly to three groups including Massage Therapy (n=14), Alexander Technique (n=14), and Dohsa-hou (n=14) group. Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI) (Argyle, 2013), Social Adjustment Scale (Hosseini & Moghtader, 2009), Adult Hope Scale (Snyder, Irving & Anderson, 1991), General Health Questionnaire (Kaviani, Mousavi & Mohit, 2001), and Word Health Organization Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL Group, 1994), were used as research instruments. Data were analyzed by Multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA). The results showed that there is no significant difference between the effectiveness of three interventions on dependent variables in the post-test stage, but in the follow -up stage, Dohsa-hou had more influence on happiness than other interventions of the research. Based on the results of the present study, in long term Dohsa-hou treatment in comparison to other similar treatments, can be considered as a more effective therapy for happiness.

Given the diversity of anxiety, especially anxiety of death in the aging period and the growing elderly population, studying factors related to mental health in this period seems necessary. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between age and finding meaning in life and death anxiety in elderly men and women. This research was done in applied format in aim and correlative in implementation. The study population included all retired pensioners in association of education from 2005 to 2015 equaling to 26, 000.The sample size according to population based on Chocran's formula was determined to be 380 people under which 190 women and 190 men were selected by convenience sampling. To measure the variables of aim at life questionnaires of Krambaf and Maholick (1969) and Templer Death Anxiety (1970) were used. To do data analysis, descriptive statistics including frequency, mean, standard deviation and the indexes of inferential statistics including Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used. The results of the research findings showed that finding meaning in life, aging and death anxiety in two groups of elderly men and women had a negative significant relationship and finding meaning at life and age can predict death anxiety in elderly men and women. Finally, the results of simultaneous regression showed that based on meaning finding in life and age, 27% of death anxiety in men and 29% of death anxiety in women can be predicted. Therefore, increasing meaning finding in life and age reduces death anxiety.

Senescence is a global phenomenon. Alzheimer's disease is one of the most important neurologic diseases in the old age which causes progressive deterioration in cognitive functions in addition to mood, personality, judgment and behavioral alterations. Since this disease imposes many emotional and financial costs on the patients and carers, the diagnosis in the early stages can reduce the consequences. Therefore, the present study aimed to compare the performance of healthy elderly and the elderly with the Alzheimer's disease in Bender Geshtalt Test and Mini-Mental State Examination. The study was an ex post facto type research. The sample consisted of 60-90 year-old elderly living in the nursing homes of Tehran: 50 healthy elderly and 50 elderly with A.D. They were selected by available sampling. The data were collected through Bender Gestalt Test as well as Mini-Mental State Examination and analysed by using t-independent test and multivariate analysis. The results of Mini-Mental State Examination indicated that there is a significant difference between 2 groups in orientation of time, orientation of place, registration, recent memory, repeat, reading, attention and calculation, comprehension, writing and drawing. No significant difference was observed in naming. The findings of Bender Gestalt Test showed significant differences in rotation, fragmentation, preservation, collision, impotence, difficulty in closure, motor incoordination, angulation, cohesion, simplification, and retrogression. Within the parameters of time and overlapping shapes there was no significant difference between the two groups. The lower scores in MMSE and more errors in Bender Gestalt Test in the elderly with A.D show brain damage and regression to lower level of developmental stages (p=0.05).

This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of positive thinking skills on psychological well-being and loneliness of elderly women in Kermanshah. The study type was Semi-experimental with pretest and posttest design with control group. The Participants of this study were 30 elderly women that were selected by available sampling method and assigned to experimental and control groups randomly. Experimental group, were trained for positive thinking for 8 sessions of 90 minutes and 2 times weekly. The data collected through short form of Psychological well-being questionnaire and of loneliness questionnaire. Research data were analyzed by SPSS software and Multivariate Analysis of Covariance (MANCOVA). The results indicated that positive thinking skills training is effective in promotion of psychological well-being and reduced loneliness in elderly women. According to the findings of this study, the necessity to apply of positive thinking training programs in order to improve psychological well-being and reduce loneliness in elderly people is emphasized.

Along with the remarkable rise of life expectancy, happiness has become a major issue for people who live a longer life. The aging process encompasses some declines that challenge the well-being of people. Therefore, the aim of this study was todetermine the relationship between self-esteem and happiness in elderly in Hamedan. This research was descriptive in kind of correlational. The study population included allelderly people in the city of Hamedan. The sample size included 250 elderly which were selected by convenience sampling. Happiness and Depression by McGreal and Joseph, and Self-Esteem Inventory by Coopersmith were used to gathering the data. Pearson correlation coefficient and Stepwise Multiple Regression were used to analyze the data. The results showed that there is a significant positive relationship between self-esteem and happiness in the elderly people (P<0.001). Finally, regression analysisshowed that 42 percent of the hsppiness can bepredicted based on self-esteem. Therefore, improving the characteristics of the self-esteem in aged people can enhance their happiness.