The Relationship Between Hope and Death Anxiety in Elderly Women: The Mediating Role of COVID-19 Anxiety and Psychological Hardiness

Older individuals experience COVID-19 with more severe clinical manifestations than younger people do, both physically and mentally. Consequently, elderly individuals exhibit greater susceptibility to the COVID-19 virus. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between hope and death anxiety in elderly women, considering the mediating role of COVID-19 anxiety and psychological hardiness.

A sample of 265 women aged 60 and older from Qazvin was selected through convenience sampling. Various measurement instruments were employed in the research, including Snyder’s Adult Hope Scale (AHS), Ahvaz Psychological Hardiness Inventory, COVID-19 Anxiety Questionnaire, and Collett-Lester Fear of Death Scale. Path analysis was employed to analyze the causal model.

Findings indicated a good fit between the model and collected data. Also, the results revealed significant direct effects of psychological hardiness (B=-0.32, P=0.01), hope (B=-0.28, P=0.01), and COVID-19 anxiety (B=0.55, P=0.01) on fear of death among the elderly women. Moreover, employing the bootstrapping method for analysis, it was found that psychological hardiness and COVID-19 anxiety mediate the relationship between hope and fear of death.

The findings highlight the mediating influence of COVID-19 anxiety and psychological hardiness in the association between hope and fear of death anxiety among elderly women. Consequently, in developing psychological interventions aimed at managing and addressing fear of death anxiety in this specific group, it is essential to consider the interplay of hope, psychological hardiness, and COVID-19 anxiety.