نشریه روانشناسی پیری
سال نهم شماره 2 (پیاپی 33، تابستان 1402)

Population aging is a pervasive social and demographic challenge and issue in developing countries, including Iran, in the near future. Several Social, psychological and behavioral factors can be related to the life satisfaction of the elderly. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the relationship between personality traits and life satisfaction in the elderly with the mediating role of cultural intelligence. This was a descriptive-correlation study of structural equations modeling (SEM) type. The statistical population studied in this research included all the elderly living in Bonab, Iran in 2021, among whom 200 people (100 men and 100 women) were selected using convenience sampling method. Participants responsed to Costa and McCrae’s Neo personality traits, Diener’s life satisfaction and Ang et al.’s cultural intelligence. The collected data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient in SPSS-24 software, and SEM in LISREL 8.8 software. The results of SEM revealed that the research model has a good fit. The results of the mediating role of cultural intelligence also indicated that this variable serve a significant mediating role in the relationship between personality traits and life satisfaction (P<0.01). According to the result of the current study, it is suggested to hold educational workshops with the aim of raising awareness of the role of personality traits and cultural intelligence in order to improve the life satisfaction of the elderly.

Due to physical and mental deficiencies in the elderly, choosing a right treatment approach can effectively improve their health and psychological problems . Therefore, the present study was to compare the effectiveness of transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS) and neurofeedback therapy (NT) on sleep quality of the elderly . The research method was semi-experimental with pretest-posttest design and a control group . The statistical population included all the elderly who referred to counseling centers in Tehran in 2019 , Among whom 45 people (60 to 70 years old) who were eligible according to inclusion and exclusion criteria were selected using convenience sampling and randomly assigned into two experimental groups (TDCS and NT) and a control group in the same proportion . Petersburg’s Sleep Quality Questionnaire was used to collect data . The first experimental group was provided with TDCS using the brain electrical stimulation device II Dose A and the second experimental group was provided with NT using the neurofeedback device  0 .5 Ver A7990SA. The control group was placed on the waiting list for two months to receive the intervention . The data obtained from the research were analyzed using univariate covariance analysis (ANCOVA) in SPSS26 software. The results illustrated that both TDCS and NT were effective in improving the sleep quality of the elderly. However, there was a significant difference between the effectiveness of these two treatment methods on improving sleep quality (P<0.001), in the way that NT is more effective than TDCS in improving the sleep quality of the elderly . Based on the findings of this research, TDCS and NT can be used as an effective intervention method to improve the sleep quality of the elderly .

Old age is a sensitive period of life, characterized by a wide range of physiological and psychological changes that cause the loss of some states, including cognitive weakness, gradual deterioration of the body, memory and social function. The elderly in this period are facing many challenges, the identification of which can be of great help in the preparation of support and rehabilitation programs. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to explain the phenomenological challenges of the elderly living in Kashan, Iran. The research population included the elderly over 62 years old living in Kashan city. The sampling method was purposeful, during which 14 aged people were interviewed and the sampling was saturated. The data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed by the seven-step Claesian method. The result indicated two main themes and 14 Sub-themes. The main themes were (1) individual challenges and (2) social challenges. Sub-themes included (1) concerns about physical health and diseases, (2) feelings of loneliness, (3)  concerns about children's future, (4) support for children, (5) lack of support for children, (6) mental and emotional problems, (7) maintaining authority and respect, (8) positive hope, (9) negative hope, (10) disability, (11) receiving support from social institutions and providing welfare for the elderly, (12) economic problems, (13) positive attitude towards the nursing home and (14) negative attitude towards the nursing home. According to the results, it was found that it is necessary to deal with the problems and challenges of the elderly, and therefore, providing supportive, educational and health services for the elderly can reduce their problems.

Elderly is one of the most important periods of human life, which requires a lot of attention to avoid any mental and psychological disorders and challenges . Two important challenges in this period are the lack of social adjustment and the increase of depression . Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of solution-focused therapy (SFT) on increasing social adjustment and reducing clinical depression in elderly women living in Kermanshah, Iran in 2020-2021 . It was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group and follow-up (two months after the post-test). The statistical population included all elderly women (60 years and older) in Kermanshah with clinical depression and social maladjustment in 2020-2021 . The sampling method was convenience Sampling. Therefore, according to Kresji and Morgan’s table, 381 people were selected. Participants filled out Bell’s social adjustment and Yesavage et al.’s elderly depression questionnaires. The final sample consisted of 30 people selected based on the inclusion criteria of the study and randomly assigned into experimental and control groups in the same ratio . The experimental group underwent 8 sessions of SFT twice a week, and the control group did not receive any intervention in the same time . Finally, the data were analyzed at two levels of descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (univariate covariance analysis) using SPSS-26 software . The results illustrated that the SFT in the post-test and follow-up phase compared to the pre-test was effective in increasing the social adjustment and reducing the clinical depression of the elderly (P<0 .01) . The results indicate that the use of SFT seems to be an efficient and practical method to improve social adjustment and reduce clinical depression in the elderly women, and the use of this method is recommended in other mental disorders of the elderly women .

Aging is a challenging period and the last stage of human life. Awareness of imminent death causes existential anxiety in the elderly. Therefore, the elderly must have the ability to respond to their basic existential problems. Existential psychotherapy, focusing on the ultimate concerns of humans, including death, loneliness, emptiness, and freedom, seems to be a suitable treatment for the elderly. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the effectiveness of existential group therapy (EGT) on existential anxiety and the quality of life of the elderly. The method of the present study was quasi-experimental with a pretest-posttest design and a control group. The statistical population was made up of the elderly between 60 and 85 years old referred to the social work clinic of Aftab Zendi in Shemiranat country, Tehran, in the second quarter of 2019. The sampling of this research was based on convenience sampling method. In general, 24 people were eligible to participate in group therapy in the current research, who were selected after considering the inclusion criteria and were randomly assigned into the experimental and control groups. The group therapy consisted of 12 Ninety-minute sessions, performed online due to the spread of the Covid-19 disease. Used to measure the mentioned criterion variables were Massoudi Sani and Bahmani’s existential anxiety questionnaire and Weir and Sherbon’s quality-of-life questionnaire (short form). The analysis of research data was done using analysis of univariate covariance (ANCOVA) in SPSS-21 software. Results indicated that according to the scores in posttest, existential anxiety has decreased and there is no significant increase in the quality of life of the elderly. In other words, the results of the research figured out that EGT reduces the existential anxiety of the elderly and it is possible to benefit from EGT as an effective treatment to deal with the mood problems in the elderly.

The issue of the promotion of health and a healthy lifestyle seems to be one of the most important ones in psychology, which shows the ever-increasing interest of researchers in this issue and the importance of a healthy lifestyle in different age groups. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between lifestyle and depression with the mediating role of loneliness in the elderly. This was a correlational study of structural equations modeling (SEM) type. The statistical papulation included of elderly men and women living in the nursing and care centers for the elderly in Bojnord, Iran in 2022, among whom 200 elderly people were selected using convenience sampling method. The data were collected by Beck’s depression, healthy lifestyle in Iranian elderly people and social and adults’ emotional loneliness of questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SEM in SPSS-25 and Lisrel-8.8 software. The results revealed that the healthy lifestyle has a negative significant relationship with depression, and also the healthy lifestyle has a negative significant relationship with depression. Depression and loneliness had also a significant positive relationship (P<0.01). Besides, the fit indices of the model confirmed the path of healthy lifestyle and depression with the mediating role of loneliness. From a practical point of view, it can be said that teaching a healthy lifestyle to the elderly, including exercise, proper nutrition and close social contact, prevents loneliness and depression. It is necessary for researchers to conduct more research on healthy lifestyle in the elderly.

Depression and heart-focused anxiety (HFA) are of the most common disorders in aging. Physical activity appears to be one of the most effective ways to reduce depression and HFA. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to compare the level of depression and HFA in the elderly participating and not participating in sport for all. It was a causal-comparative study. The statistical population included all elderly residents of Bandar Abbas, Iran, of whom 400 were selected based on convenience sampling along whit the inclusion criteria, and were assigned into two groups of participants and non-participants in sport for all. 200 people (100 women and 100 men) of elderly people over 60 years participating in public sports and 200 people (100 women and 100 men) who had not any sports activities were selected. Active people must had regularly participated in public sports for at least one year. All the participants answered the elderly Yesavage’s depression and the Eifert’s HFA questionnaires. Independent t test was used to analyze the data in SPSS-22 software. Results indicated that 84% of people participating in public sports do not have depression, but 12% have mild depression and 4% have severe depression. On the other hand, only 28% of the elderly who were inactive were not depressed, while 52% of them had mild depression, 12% had mild depression, and 6% had severe depression. Although the level of HFA was higher in inactive elderly compared to active elderly, this level of difference was not statistically significant. Public sports reduce the level of depression among the elderly, so it is recommended that the elderly do public sports to reduce the level of depression.