Open Access

ARTICLE

The Relationship between Psychological Vulnerability, Aging Attitudes and Life Meaning in Elderly Patients with Comorbidities

Jiaojiao Wu^1,#, Dou Fu^2,#, Lili Zhang^1,*, Xiangying Xie³, Xinmei Wang², Xiangying Shen¹, Shanshan Liu², Xu Xu⁴, Hui Cheng⁵, Xiaojie Ma¹, Doudou Lin¹
1 Department of Geriatrics, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
2 Department of General Practice, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
3 Department of Nursing, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
4 Department of Academic Research, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
5 Department of Nephrology, Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430060, China
* Corresponding Author: Lili Zhang. Email:
# These authors contributed equally to this work

International Journal of Mental Health Promotion https://doi.org/10.32604/ijmhp.2024.056223

Received 17 July 2024; Accepted 25 September 2024; Published online 08 November 2024

Abstract

Background: With the rapid aging of China’s population and the increasing prevalence of comorbidities in the elderly, psychological crises have become more common. This study aims to investigate the present status of psychological vulnerability, aging attitudes, and life meaning in elderly patients with comorbidities. Methods: A total of 685 elderly inpatients and outpatients at Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University between July and December 2022 were selected using the simple random sampling method. Social demographic data were collected, and the Attitudes to aging Questionnaire (AAQ), the Chinese Life Meaning Questionnaire (C-MLQ), and the Psychological Vulnerability Scale (C-PVS) were used for the analysis. A total of 685 questionnaires were received, and 602 valid questionnaires were collected, with an effective rate of 87.88%. Data analysis was performed using SPSS V25.0 and AMOS V24.0. Results: The total scores of psychological vulnerability, aging attitudes, and life meaning were 69.4 ± 12.8, 80.2 ± 13.5 and 39.2 ± 8.3, respectively. The psychological vulnerability was significantly negatively correlated with life meaning and aging attitudes (r = −0.351, −0.264; p < 0.01). There was a significant positive correlation between aging attitudes and life meaning (r = 0.515; p < 0.01). Life meaning played a partial mediating role between psychological vulnerability and aging attitudes (β = 3.070, p < 0.05). Conclusion: This study found that the psychological vulnerability in elderly patients with comorbidities was at the lower level, which was related to the elderly patients’ aging attitudes and their current status of life meaning. The level of psychological vulnerability in elderly patients with senile-related comorbidities needs to be further improved. Medical workers should pay attention to the psychological vulnerability of elderly patients and improve the identification of psychological crises of such patients.

---

Keywords

The elderly; comorbidity; life meaning; psychological vulnerability; aging attitudes

---