La influencia del estado de salud autopercibido, el apoyo social y la depresión en la autoeficacia de ancianos brasileños

Abstract

The aim of this study was to identify thepsychosocial predictors of general self-efficacyin a sample of Brazilian elderly people. Self-efficacyhas been reported as a variable of greatimportance for elderly people’s health. Amongthem, higher self-efficacy levels are associatedwith lower inability, psychological distress, depressivesymptoms, good perceived health andhigher pain adjustment. One hundred and forty four patients participated in this study. They were all patients of the Health Basic Unit at Granja do Torto (Brasilia, Brazil). The sample is consecutive. The data were collected through a questionnaire that included sociodemographic questions (colour, age, education, marital status, occupational situation and number of people of other generations that you live with) and scales for the studied psychosocial dimensions (selfperceived health status, social support, depression, and general self-efficacy). The sample is mostly (58.3%) constituted by women. The average age is 69.3 years old (SD= 6.61), with participants being from 60 to 89 years old. The majority were white and brown people, with less than 8 years of education; they have a stable partner, live with family members of another generation, and do not work (they are retired). Self-perceived health status, social support and depression explained 37.2% of variance (ΔF(3, 140)= 29.20, p= .000). The participants who had a higher level of perceived social support (β= .25), a positive self-perceived health status (β= .30) and lower levels of depression (β= -.28) had higher levels of general self-efficacy. Future interventions under the scope of health promotion in elderly people must consider these determinants in order to increase their efficacy. It is very important to promote community actions that help elderly people to decrease depression levels and increase levels of positive self-perceived health status and perceived social support. Thus, we will contribute to self-efficacy increase in elderly people, an extremely important variable in health and well-being among this specific population.