Older adults have the highest incidence of suicide among all other age groups and the suicide rates are expected to rise as the population of older adults does. It is important to investigate the potential underlying causes of suicidal ideation and the factors that influence the psychological well-being of this generation.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of family interaction and spiritual well-being on the older people’s psychological well-being and suicidal ideation.
Methods:
This was a cross sectional, descriptive research design. The structured questionnaires were used to do the data collection. There were 90 older people were recruited from community in the USA. The mean age was 72.23 (SD = 7.07), range (60-95). There were 36 Male (40%) and 54 Female (60%).
The SPSS 23 version was used to do the data analysis. The descriptive data analysis, Pearson Correlation, and Step-wise Multiple Regressions were used to solve the research questions.
Results:
In this study, for family interaction, the following variables had significant relationships with older people’s psychological well-being: child monitor (r = 0.428, p ≤ 0.001), inconsistent discipline (r = -0.394, p ≤ 0.001), harsh discipline (r = -0.519, p ≤ 0.001), inductive reasoning (r = 0.228, p ≤ 0.05), communication (r = 0.293, p ≤ 0.01), involvement (r = 0.295, p ≤ 0.01), positive family interaction (r = 0.409, p ≤ 0.001), and negative family interaction (r = -0.560, p ≤ 0.001). Older people whose parents used child monitor, inductive reasoning, communication, involvement, and positive family interaction, had higher score of psychological well-being. Older people whose parents used inconsistent discipline, harsh discipline, and negative family interaction had lower score of psychological well-being.
For spiritual well-being, the following variables had significant relationships with older people’s psychological well-being: total score of spiritual well-being (r = 0.776, p ≤ 0.001), faith/belief (r = 0.589, p ≤ 0.001), life and self-responsibility (r = 0.610, p ≤ 0.001), and life satisfaction/ self- actualization (r = 0.778, p ≤ 0.001). Older people who had higher score of spiritual well-being, higher score of faith/belief, higher score of life and self-responsibility, and life satisfaction/ self- actualization had higher score of psychological well-being.
For family interaction, the following variables had significant relationships with older people’s suicidal ideation: harsh discipline (r = 0.433, p ≤ 0.001), negative family interaction (r = 0.306, p ≤ 0.01), and positive reinforcement (r = -0.213, p ≤ 0.05). Older people whose parents used harsh discipline and negative family interaction had higher score of suicidal ideation. Older people whose parents used positive reinforcement had lower score of suicidal ideation.
For spiritual well-being, the following variables had significant relationships with older people’s suicidal ideation: total score of spiritual well-being (r= -0.446, p ≤ 0.001), faith/belief (r = -0.334, p ≤ 0.001), life and self-responsibility (r = -0.255, p ≤ 0.05), and life satisfaction and self-actualization (r = -0.545, p ≤ 0.001). Older people who had higher score of spiritual well-being, higher score of faith/belief, higher score of life and self-responsibility, and higher score of life satisfaction and self-actualization had lower score of suicidal ideation.
The Stepwise Multiple Regression model variables accounted for 73.3% of the psychological well-being variance. Life satisfaction/self-actualization (ß= 0.556, p ≤ 0.001), life/self responsibility (ß= 0.264, p ≤ 0.001), and negative family interaction (ß= -0.249, p ≤ 0.001) were the significant predictors of older people’s psychological well-being. Higher score of life satisfaction/self-actualization, higher score of life/self responsibility, and lower score of negative family interaction (ß= -0.249, p ≤ 0.001) were found to predict increasing older people’s psychological well-being.
The Stepwise Multiple Regression model variables accounted for 34.5 % of the suicidal ideation variance. Life satisfaction/self-actualization (ß= -0.44, p ≤ 0.001) and harsh discipline (ß= 0.243, p ≤ 0.05) were the significant predictors of older people’s suicidal ideation. Higher score of life satisfaction/self-actualization was found to predict decreasing older people’s suicidal ideation. Higher score of harsh discipline by their parents was found to predict increasing the level of older people’s suicidal ideation.