A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SOME PSYCHOSOCIAL CORRELATES IN A GROUP OF INSTITUTIONALIZED AND NON-INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY INDIVIDUALS

Abstract

The present study has been designed to investigate different psycho-social issues related to institutionalization amongst the elderly people. The present study aimed more specifically to highlight whether there is any difference with reference to their quality of life , coping with stress and psychological wellbeing between institutionalized and non-institutionalized widowed elderly individuals. A sample (n=120) consisting of two groups of elderly ( age 65-75) people classified in institutionalized (30 male , 30 female) and non-institutionalized (30 male , 30 female) were taken for the study. The participants were given self-reporting questionnaires to fill out and they rate their quality of life, coping their stress and psychological well-being. To assess the quality of life WHO-QUALITY OF LIFE BREF (1996) was selected as a tool. To assess the coping strategies with stress WAYS OF COPING QUESTIONNAIRE (1985) by Folkman and Lazarus was used as a tool. To assess the psychological well being Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being scale (2007) was used. General health questionnaire was used to assess the general health state of an individual. As per the demands of the collected data format, two- way ANOVA was suitable to be conducted for statistical analysis, for each of the three separate entities viz. quality of life, coping and well-being for the two groups of elderly individuals who varied in terms of institutionalization. Initially, the obtained result for quality of life showed a significant difference between two groups for physical health, psychological and environmental quality. Interestingly, gender difference did not affected quality of life only for the domain of psychological while the rest of them were significant. Coping as another variable in the present study, involved distancing, self-controlling, accepting responsibility, escape avoidance and positive reappraisal to be significant in terms of institutionalization. Gender difference , however , significantly affected only the accepting responsibility as coping strategy . Lastly, psychological well-being is more effective to be significant in terms of both institutionalization and gender variation.