IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v18y2021i18p9857-d638697.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Death Anxiety and Loneliness among Older Adults: Role of Parental Self-Efficacy

Author

Listed:
  • Lee Greenblatt-Kimron

    (School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel)

  • Miri Kestler-Peleg

    (School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel)

  • Ahuva Even-Zohar

    (School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel)

  • Osnat Lavenda

    (School of Social Work, Ariel University, Ariel 40700, Israel)

Abstract

Death anxiety and loneliness are major issues for older people. The present study aimed to broaden the understanding of factors that are linked with increased loneliness in old age by examining the association between death anxiety and loneliness, and the role of an unexplored variable among older adults, namely, parental self-efficacy. A convenience sample of 362 Israeli parents over the age of 65 was recruited through means of social media. Participants completed self-reported questionnaires, which included background characteristics, death anxiety, parental self-efficacy, and loneliness measures. The findings showed that death anxiety was positively associated with loneliness among older adults. The findings also confirmed that parental self-efficacy moderated this association in this population. We concluded that the combination of death anxiety and low parental self-efficacy identified a group of older adults that are at higher risk of developing increased loneliness levels. Mental health professionals should consider intergenerational relationships as a fundamental component of older adults’ daily lives, focusing on parental self-efficacy in old age, as this appears to be a resilience resource.

Suggested Citation

  • Lee Greenblatt-Kimron & Miri Kestler-Peleg & Ahuva Even-Zohar & Osnat Lavenda, 2021. "Death Anxiety and Loneliness among Older Adults: Role of Parental Self-Efficacy," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-11, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9857-:d:638697
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9857/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/18/9857/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Kleinspehn-Ammerlahn & Dana Kotter-Grühn & Jacqui Smith, 2008. "Self-Perceptions of Aging: Do Subjective Age and Satisfaction With Aging Change During Old Age?," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(6), pages 377-385.
    2. Russell A. Ward, 2008. "Multiple Parent–Adult Child Relations and Well-Being in Middle and Later Life," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 63(4), pages 239-247.
    3. Karen A Whittaker & Sarah Cowley, 2012. "A survey of parental self‐efficacy experiences: maximising potential through health visiting and universal parenting support," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 21(21-22), pages 3276-3286, November.
    4. Frances K. Barg & Rebecca Huss-Ashmore & Marsha N. Wittink & Genevra F. Murray & Hillary R. Bogner & Joseph J. Gallo, 2006. "A Mixed-Methods Approach to Understanding Loneliness and Depression in Older Adults," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 61(6), pages 329-339.
    5. Karen L. Fingerman & Yen-Pi Cheng & Kira Birditt & Steven Zarit, 2012. "Only as Happy as the Least Happy Child: Multiple Grown Children's Problems and Successes and Middle-aged Parents' Well-being," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 67(2), pages 184-193.
    6. Ariela Lowenstein, 2007. "Solidarity–Conflict and Ambivalence: Testing Two Conceptual Frameworks and Their Impact on Quality of Life for Older Family Members," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 62(2), pages 100-107.
    7. Carmel, Sara & Mutran, Elizabeth, 1997. "Wishes regarding the use of life-sustaining treatments among elderly persons in Israel: An explanatory model," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 45(11), pages 1715-1727, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Cong Cao & Dan Li & Qianwen Xu & Xiuyan Shao, 2022. "Motivational Influences Affecting Middle-Aged and Elderly Users’ Participation Intention in Health-Related Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(18), pages 1-21, September.
    2. Nina Tumosa, 2023. "Using the Age-Friendly Health Systems Framework to Track Wellness and Health Promotion Priorities of Older Adults in the Global Community," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-5, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Wang, Haowei & Kim, Kyungmin & Burr, Jeffrey A. & Wu, Bei, 2020. "Longitudinal associations between parent-child relationship quality and insomnia for aging parents: The mediating role of depressive symptoms," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    2. Debasree Das Gupta & David W. S. Wong, 2023. "Age-Dependent Differences in Frequent Mental Distress (FMD) of US Older Adults Living in Multigenerational Families versus Living Alone," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(4), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Shobhit Srivastava & T. Muhammad & Priya Saravanakumar, 2023. "Factors associated with discordance of actual and preferred living arrangements among older adults: an analytical cross-sectional study in India," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 1-16, September.
    4. Lianel Rosario-Ramos & Keishliany Suarez & Cristina Peña-Vargas & Yoamy Toro-Morales & Rosario Costas-Muñiz & Eida Castro & Stephanie Torres & Normarie Torres-Blasco, 2022. "Important End-of-Life Topics among Latino Patients and Caregivers Coping with Advanced Cancer," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(15), pages 1-9, July.
    5. Racheli-Lital Gvili & Ehud Bodner, 2021. "Ageist Attitudes Are Associated with Will-to-Live and Moderated by Age, Medical Conditions and Attitudes toward Aging," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(13), pages 1-13, June.
    6. Joana Neto & Marta Pinto da Costa & Félix Neto & Sara Carmel, 2021. "The Will-to-Live Scale: Validity and Reliability Among Portuguese Adolescents," SAGE Open, , vol. 11(4), pages 21582440211, October.
    7. repec:ers:journl:v:xxiv:y:2021:i:special3:p:767-784 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Emma Nilsson & Helena Igelström & Irene Vikman & Agneta Larsson & Mascha Pauelsen, 2021. "Positive Self-Perceptions of Aging Play a Significant Role in Predicting Physical Performance among Community-Dwelling Older Adults," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-10, October.
    9. Guodong Chen & Xiaoyan Lei, 2009. "“Fertility effect” or “supporting effect?”—Quantity of children and parental health," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 4(4), pages 601-616, December.
    10. Mikucka, Malgorzata, 2015. "How does parenthood affect life satisfaction in Russia?," MPRA Paper 65376, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. K. Chen & V. W. Q. Lou & C. Y. M. Cheng & T. Y. S. Lum & J. Y. M. Tang, 2022. "Family Caregiver’s Positive, Negative, and Ambivalent Feelings Towards Stroke Survivors: Association with Psychological Well-Being," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 17(1), pages 169-183, February.
    12. Torssander, Jenny, 2014. "Adult children's socioeconomic positions and their parents' mortality: A comparison of education, occupational class, and income," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 148-156.
    13. Louise Mansfield & Christina Victor & Catherine Meads & Norma Daykin & Alan Tomlinson & Jack Lane & Karen Gray & Alex Golding, 2021. "A Conceptual Review of Loneliness in Adults: Qualitative Evidence Synthesis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(21), pages 1-19, November.
    14. Ye, Zihan & Zou, Xiaopeng & Post, Thomas & Mo, Weiqiao & Yang, Qianqian, 2022. "Too old to plan? Age identity and financial planning among the older population of China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    15. Lahav, Yael & Stein, Jacob Y. & Hasson, Rachel & Solomon, Zahava, 2020. "Impostorism, subjective age, and perceived health among aging veterans," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 258(C).
    16. Vandrevala, Tushna & Hampson, Sarah E. & Daly, Tom & Arber, Sara & Thomas, Hilary, 2006. "Dilemmas in decision-making about resuscitation--a focus group study of older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1579-1593, April.
    17. Maria Gabriella Melchiorre & Mirko Di Rosa & Giovanni Lamura & Francisco Torres-Gonzales & Jutta Lindert & Mindaugas Stankunas & Elisabeth Ioannidi-Kapolou & Henrique Barros & Gloria Macassa & Joaquim, 2016. "Abuse of Older Men in Seven European Countries: A Multilevel Approach in the Framework of an Ecological Model," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, January.
    18. Michael Fitzgerald & Kelly Berthiaume & Deborah S Carr, 2021. "A Longitudinal Investigation Into Marital Quality as a Mediator Linking Childhood Abuse to Affective Symptoms [Application of attachment theory to the study of sexual abuse]," The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, The Gerontological Society of America, vol. 76(10), pages 2112-2120.
    19. Mendez-Luck, Carolyn A. & Kennedy, David P. & Wallace, Steven P., 2009. "Guardians of health: The dimensions of elder caregiving among women in a Mexico City neighborhood," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 68(2), pages 228-234, January.
    20. Anna Rosa Donizzetti & Martine Lagacé, 2022. "COVID-19 and the Elderly’s Mental Illness: The Role of Risk Perception, Social Isolation, Loneliness and Ageism," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(8), pages 1-15, April.
    21. Jolanthe de Koning & Suzanne H Richards & Grace E R Wood & Afroditi Stathi, 2021. "Profiles of Loneliness and Social Isolation in Physically Active and Inactive Older Adults in Rural England," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-16, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:18:y:2021:i:18:p:9857-:d:638697. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.