The Influences of Anxiety, Depression, and Coping Strategies on Older Adults’ Suicidal Ideation.

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Abstract

Adults’ Suicide is a major public health issue among older adults, who have a high rate of completing suicide. In 2014, the highest suicide rate was among people 85 years or older. Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the influence of anxiety, depression, and coping strategies on suicidal ideation in older adults in the U.S. Methods: This study used a cross-sectional, descriptive research design. Data were collected using structured questionnaires. The sample consisted of 51 community-dwelling older adults. The software SPSS 23 was used for data analysis. Descriptive data analysis techniques, including Pearson Correlation, Stepwise Multiple Regression, and ANOVA, were used to answer the research questions. Results: The mean age was 73.16 (SD = 7.41), range (64-91); 54.9% were male and 45.1% were female. The following variables were significantly related to older adults’ suicidal ideation: anxiety (r = 0.546, p = 0.000), depression (r = 0.678, p = 0.000), problem focused disengagement coping (r = -0.486, p = 0.000), emotional focused engagement coping (r = 0.472, p = 0.000), and emotional focused disengagement coping (r = 0.350, p = 0.012). The results of Multiple Regression indicated that depression (ß = 0.583, p ≤ 0.001) and emotional focused engagement coping strategies (ß = 0.229, p ≤ 0.05) were significant predictors of older adults’ suicidal ideation. There were significant differences of anxiety, depression, and coping strategies between high suicidal ideation (scores = 4-7) group 3 and low suicidal ideation (scores = 0-2) group 1. Group 3 had higher level of anxiety and depression than Group 1. Group 1 had higher scores on using problem-focused disengagement coping strategies and lower scores on using emotion-focused engagement coping strategies than Group 3. Conclusions: The findings indicate that older adults with higher levels of anxiety and depression, or using emotional focused coping strategies had higher scores on suicidal ideation. Older adults who used problem focused coping strategies had lower scores on suicidal ideation
Original languageAmerican English
JournalJacobs Journal of Gerontology
Volume3
StatePublished - 2017

Keywords

  • anxiety
  • coping strategies
  • depression
  • older adult
  • suicidal ideation

Disciplines

  • Nursing

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