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. 2025 Jan 22;25(1):51.
doi: 10.1186/s12877-025-05682-6.

The relationships among positive coping style, psychological resilience, and fear of falling in older adults

Siqi Liu  1 , Han Xiao  1 , Peiyao Qi  2 , Mi Song  3 , Yuan Gao  4 , Hongying Pi  5 , Qingqing Su  6
Affiliations

The relationships among positive coping style, psychological resilience, and fear of falling in older adults

Siqi Liu et al. BMC Geriatr. .

Abstract

Objectives: Fear of falling is a psychological issue that adversely impacts the health of elderly individuals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation among positive coping styles, psychological resilience, and fear of falling in older adults. The mediating role of psychological resilience was also investigated.

Methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from July 2023 to December 2023. There are 202 older adults from a tertiary hospital in Beijing, China, participated in this study. The general information questionnaire, the Simplified Coping Style Questionnaire, the Chinese version of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Falls Efficacy Scale-International were utilized. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation, and structural equation modeling were used for data analysis.

Results: The prevalence of fear of falling in the elderly was 53.00%. Older individuals with a history of falls or fractures had a significantly higher fear of falling (P < 0.05). Fear of falling was inversely connected with psychological resilience and positive coping styles (P < 0.05). Positive coping styles were positively connected with psychological resilience (r = 0.638, P < 0.01). Structural equation modeling showed that psychological resilience fully mediated the effect of positive coping styles on fear of falling (indirect effect estimate = -0.126, 95% CI -0.036 to-0.225; total effect estimate = -0.121, 95% CI -0.028to -0.005).

Conclusion: Fear of falling was widespread among older adults and psychological resilience fully mediated the relationship between positive coping styles and fear of falling. Future interventions targeting the fear of falling should consider the enhancement of psychological resilience.

Keywords: Fall efficacy; Fear of falling; Older adults; Positive coping style; Psychological resilience.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics approval and consent to participate: The Ethics Committee of the Chinese PLA General Hospital approved this study. All procedures for this study were conducted by the Declaration of Helsinki. Written informed consent was obtained from each participant before participation in the study. Consent for publication: Not applicable. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
The proposed model of fear of falling with psychological resilience and coping styles. a, the effect of active coping on psychological resilience; b, the effect of psychological resilience on fear of falling; c, the total effect of active coping on fear of falling; and c’, the effect of active coping on fear of falling via resilience
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The structural equation model of positive coping style and psychological resilience on fear of falling
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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