Perceived stress and death-related distress in older adults: Exploring the role of social support and emotional loneliness.

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, MULTIDISCIPLINARY

Death Studies Pub Date : 2025-02-05 DOI:10.1080/07481187.2025.2460914

Gökmen Arslan, Deniz Say Şahin

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Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine whether emotional loneliness and social support mediated the association between perceived stress and death distress in older adults. The sample consisted of 524 older adults, aged between 65 and 88, living in an urban area in Türkiye (M = 70.05, SD = 5.01). Mediation analyses revealed that perceived stress is positively associated with death distress and emotional loneliness, and negatively associated with social support. Both social support and emotional loneliness mediate the relationship between perceived stress and death-related distress. Additionally, social support mediates the association between emotional loneliness and perceived stress with death distress in older adults. These findings underscore the importance of social resources in promoting mental health and well-being, and in mitigating the adverse effects of stress and loneliness on death-related feelings and thoughts in older adults. By providing emotional and practical assistance, social support can significantly enhance the mental health and well-being of older adults.

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老年人的感知压力和死亡相关的痛苦：探索社会支持和情感孤独的作用。

本研究的目的是探讨情感孤独和社会支持是否在老年人感知压力和死亡痛苦之间起中介作用。样本由524名老年人组成，年龄在65至88岁之间，居住在泰国的一个城市地区（M = 70.05, SD = 5.01）。中介分析显示，感知压力与死亡痛苦和情感孤独呈正相关，与社会支持负相关。社会支持和情感孤独都介导了感知压力和死亡相关痛苦之间的关系。此外，社会支持在老年人的情感孤独和感知压力与死亡痛苦之间起中介作用。这些发现强调了社会资源在促进心理健康和福祉方面的重要性，以及在减轻压力和孤独对老年人死亡相关感觉和思想的不利影响方面的重要性。通过提供情感和实际援助，社会支持可以显著提高老年人的心理健康和福祉。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Death Studies Multiple-

CiteScore

8.30

自引率

7.90%

发文量

期刊介绍： Now published ten times each year, this acclaimed journal provides refereed papers on significant research, scholarship, and practical approaches in the fast growing areas of bereavement and loss, grief therapy, death attitudes, suicide, and death education. It provides an international interdisciplinary forum in which a variety of professionals share results of research and practice, with the aim of better understanding the human encounter with death and assisting those who work with the dying and their families.