The Relationship of Attachment Styles and Sense of Cohesion with Perceived Stress in the Elderly in Nursing Home During the Outbreak of Coronavirus: The Mediating Role of Spiritual Intelligence

The spread of Coronavirus is an important challenge for health care systems in Iran. Attachment styles, self-coherence and spiritual intelligence are the variables that can have a significant impact on mental health and quality of life in the elderly during the outbreak of Coronavirus. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the mediating role of spiritual intelligence in the relationship between attachment styles and self-coherence with perceived stress during the outbreak of coronavirus in the elderly. This was a correlational study of path analysis type. The statistical population included all the elderly living in nursing homes in Sanandaj in 2021, among whom 270 (146 men and 124 women) people were selected using convenience sampling method. Data were collected using Collins’s adult attachment styles, Antonovsky’s sense of cohesion, Cohen et al.’s perceived stress, and King’s spiritual intelligence Scales. The results of path analysis revealed that the hypothetical model has a good fit in the sample of this study. As such, secure and avoidant attachment styles had an indirect relationship with perceived stress through spiritual intelligence, and sense of cohesion indicated an indirect relationship with perceived stress through spiritual intelligence (P<0.05). The findings emphasize the importance of the relationship between attachment styles and a sense of cohesion with respect to the mediating role of spiritual intelligence in providing psychological assistance for the elderly in order to manage their perceived stress.