Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2021 Sep 18;18(18):9857.
doi: 10.3390/ijerph18189857.

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

Lee Greenblatt-Kimron  1 , Miri Kestler-Peleg  1 , Ahuva Even-Zohar  1 , Osnat Lavenda  1
Affiliations

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

Lee Greenblatt-Kimron et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. .

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.

Keywords: death anxiety; loneliness; older adults; parental self-efficacy.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
The moderating role of parental self-efficacy in the association between death anxiety and loneliness.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Wang H., Kim K., Burr J.A., Wu B. Psychological Pathways Linking Parent-Child Relations to Objective and Subjective Sleep among Older Adults. J. Gerontol. Ser. B. 2021 doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbab013. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ward R.A. Multiple parent-adult child relations and well-being in middle and later life. J. Gerontol. Ser. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 2008;63:S239–S247. doi: 10.1093/geronb/63.4.S239. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Lin Z., Chen F. Evolving parent–adult child relations: Location of multiple children and psychological well-being of older adults in China. Public Health. 2018;158:117–123. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2018.02.024. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Gilligan M., Suitor J.J., Feld S., Pillemer K. Do positive feelings hurt? Disaggregating positive and negative components of intergenerational ambivalence. J. Marriage Fam. 2015;77:261–276. doi: 10.1111/jomf.12146. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Fingerman K.L., Cheng Y.-P., Birditt K., Zarit S. Only as happy as the least happy child: Multiple grown children’s problems and successes and middle-aged parents’ well-being. J. Gerontol. Ser. B Psychol. Sci. Soc. Sci. 2012;67:184–193. doi: 10.1093/geronb/gbr086. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources