The Spirituality and Quality of Life in the Elderly: The Mediating Role of Self-Compassion and Sense of Cohesion

Given the growing population of the elderly, it appears necessary to study the health-related factors of the elderly, which seem to be related to their quality of life (QOF). Recent researches have shown that spirituality, self-compassion, and sense of cohesion may improve health in this population. Therefore, this study aims to determine the model of QOF based on spirituality through mediating role of self-compassion and sense of cohesion in the elderly. The study population included all the elderly living in Zanjan, Iran, among which 370 were selected using convenience sampling method. The measures applied in the current study consisted of Parsian and Dunning’s Spirituality, Raes et al.’s Self-compassion, Antonovsky’s sense of coherence and The World Organization QOF Questionnaires. Path analysis was used to analyze the causal model. The results indicated the fit of the model with the data. The results also showed a direct and significant effect between spirituality (β=0.28, p < 0.05), self-compassion (β=0.23, p < 0.05) and sense of cohesion (β=0.40, p < 0.05) with the QOF. Moreover, the analysis of the role of multiple mediators using Preacher and Hayes’s approach confirmed the mediating role of self-compassion and sense of cohesion in the relationship between spirituality and QOF. These results contribute to the theoretical knowledge regarding how spirituality affects QOF in the elderly. The findings illustrated that spirituality has the power to predict QOF among the elderly through self-compassion and sense of cohesion. All the three above-mentioned predictor variables are thought to be extensible and can be applied in the form of interventions using to improve QOF in the elderly.