The effect of mixed prayer and positive psychology group therapy on life meaning and death anxiety among elderly women with physical-motor disabilities

Abstract

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here. Background and Objective: Aging and disability are two phenomena that occur in all human societies, and more than half of the world's elderly population are women, most of whom live in developing countries. Some studies have shown that spirituality plays a part in reducing the psychological problems and anxieties among the elderly. The goal of present study was to examine the effect of prayer and positive psychology group therapy on life meaning and death anxiety among elderly women with physical-motor disabilities who live in the nursing center of Tafresh. Method: This study adopted a quasi-experimental design including a pretest and a posttest as well as an experimental and a control group. Thirty elderly females with physical-motor disabilities were selected from the nursing center of Tafresh, Arak province in 2016. Data were collected by administering the meaning of life questionnaire (MLQ) and test anxiety of death (DAS) before and after the intervention. Analysis of covariance (ANVOCA) was used for data analysis. All ethical issues were observed in this study and the authors declared no conflict of interests. Results: Comparing the pretest and posttest conditions, significant differences were observed in the meaning of life and death anxiety overall mean scores of elderly women with physical-motor disabilities (P<0/05). Conclusion: The results showed that mixed prayer and positive psychology group therapy increased the meaning of life and reduced death anxiety in elderly women. For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.

Keywords

• Death anxiety
• Elderly
• Meaning of life
• Positive psychology
• Prayer