Elders may face several different challenges on a daily basis. Some challenges they may experience could range from mental illness, chronic illnesses, loss of a spouse, living alone, socioeconomic difficulties, or any combination of challenges. It is important to understand what type of coping strategies could increase psychological well-being and decrease suicidal ideation.
Purpose:
The purpose of this study was to examine the influences of coping strategies and using alcohol on elders’ 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. Total 90 elders 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 and Pearson Correlation were used to solve the research questions.
Results:
According to the results of this study, the following variables had significantly positive relationships with elders’ psychological well-being: problem focused engagement (r = 0.333, p ≤ 0.001) and problem focused disengagement coping strategies (r = 0.654, p ≤ 0.001). Elders who had higher score of using problem focused engagement and problem focused disengagement coping strategies had higher score of psychological well-being.
The following variables had significantly negative relationships with elders’ psychological well-being: emotion focused engagement (r = -0.219, p ≤ 0.05), emotion focused disengagement coping strategies(r = -0.456, p ≤ 0.001), and using alcohol with negative emotion (r = -0.509, p ≤ 0.001). Elders who had higher score of using emotion focused engagement, emotion focused disengagement coping strategies, and using alcohol with negative emotion had lower score of psychological well-being.
The following variables had significantly negative relationships with elders’ suicidal ideation: problem focused engagement (r = -0.232, p ≤ 0.05) and problem focused disengagement coping strategies (r = -0.481, p ≤ 0.001). Elders who had higher score of using problem focused engagement and problem focused disengagement coping strategies had lower score of suicidal ideation.
The following variables had significantly positive relationships with elders’ suicidal ideation: emotion focused engagement (r = 0.233, p ≤ 0.05), emotion focused disengagement coping strategies (r = 0.306, p ≤ 0.01), and using alcohol with negative emotion (r = 0.379, p ≤ 0.001). Elders who had higher score of using emotion focused engagement, emotion focused disengagement coping strategies, and using alcohol with negative emotion had higher score of Suicidal Ideation.
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