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Learning Objective 1: The learner will be able to understand the relationships among vulnerability, self-transcendence, and well-being in Japanese hospitalized elders.
Learning Objective 2: The learner will be able to understand the applicability of the self-transcendence theory in Japanese population.
MethodsFIn this study, a nonexperimental descriptive design was used to examine the relationships among the variables. Because the process of self-transcendence is considered to be triggered by vulnerable health experiences in the theory of self-transcendence, hospitalized elders were selected as the study subjects. A total of 105 Japanese elderly patients (between ages 65 and 94, with a mean of 74) were recruited from four hospitals. The level of vulnerability was assessed by three aspects including vulnerability in health status (i.e. present health status), vulnerability in resource availability (i.e. social status, social capital, and human capital), and past vulnerable experience. Well-being was examined from the level of depression and life satisfaction. Pearson`s correlations and bivariate and multiple regression analyses were employed to examine the relationships among the variables.
ResultsFSelf-transcendence demonstrated significant inverse relationships with vulnerability in resource availability, especially vulnerability in social capital (i.e. Number of social supports) and in human capital (i.e., educational level and perceived financial status); however, there was no significant relationship between self-transcendence and vulnerability in health status and past vulnerable experience. Multiple regression analyses revealed mediating effects of self-transcendence on the relationship between vulnerability in resource availability and well-being variables and direct effects of self-transcendence on both depression and life satisfaction.
Conclusion: Findings of the study not only confirmed the mediating effect of self-transcendence on the relationship between vulnerability and well-being as theorized but also provided further evidence of the universality of the self-transcendence concept and its applicability in Japanese hospitalized elders.