The role of experiential avoidance and psychological capitals in predicting feeling loneliness by mediating meaning in life in the elderly

Increasing age, decreasing social efficacy perception due to retirement, and getting the children away cause feeling loneliness in the elderly.

this study was conducted to investigate the role of experiential avoidance and psychological capitals in predicting feeling loneliness by mediating the meaning in life in the elderly in the city of Isfahan.

The study was descriptive-correlational of structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of the study included the elderly in the city of Isfahan in 2018. The study sample was 253 elderly people who were selected through convenience sampling. The applied instruments included the loneliness scale (Russel, 1996), the psychological capital questionnaire (Lotanz and Olio, 2007), the meaning in life questionnaire(Stagger et al., 2006), and the acceptance and action questionnaire (Bond et.al, 2011). After collecting questionnaires, the data were analyzed through Pearson correlation and structural equation modeling methods.

The results showed that there were significant relationships between the variables (p˂0/001). Moreover, the mediating role of the meaning in life in the relations of experiential avoidance and psychological capitals to feeling loneliness  in the elderly was confirmed.

 Developing meaning in life in elderly, can overcome felling of loneliness and experiential avoidance.