The Relationship Between Meaning in Life and Quality of Life in Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Death Anxiety

One of the critical periods of life is aging, during which people face various physical and mental problems that affect their quality of life. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to examine the relationship between meaning in life and quality of life through the mediating role of death anxiety. This was a descriptive correlational study using structural equation modeling (SEM). The statistical population of the present study included employees and retirees aged 60 to 65 years of various offices and organizations of Tehran, Iran in 2023-2024, among whom 354 people were selected as the sample. Participants answered the Templer’s death anxiety, WHO quality of life, and Steger et al.’s meaning in life questionnaires. The collected data were analyzed by SEM using SPSS-24 and AMOS-24 software. The results showed that there is a significant negative relationship between meaning in life and quality of life with death anxiety, and a significant positive relationship between meaning in life and quality of life. In addition, the mediating role of death anxiety in the relationship between meaning in life and quality of life was confirmed (P=.001). In general, given that death anxiety affects the quality of life of older adults, addressing the issue of meaning in life in the field of counseling for older adults can help improve their quality of life.