THE INFLUENCE OF RELIGIOSITY ON AN OLDER PERSON'S ADJUSTMENT TO THE NURSING HOME ENVIRONMENT (ELDERLY).
Contributors: Long Island University, The Brooklyn Center.
Published: 1996
Number of pages: 120
Subjects: Psychology, Personality.; Religion, General.; Gerontology.
Description: The present study was designed to examine the nature of religiosity in nursing home residents. Specifically, this study explored the relationship between two dimensions of religiosity: orientation and motivation and an older person's adjustment to the nursing home environment. It also examined the impact of the kind of nursing home (religiously-affiliated or non-sectarian) on religiosity and adjustment.

A total of 60 nursing home residents (aged 65-108), 30 from religiously-affiliated homes and 30 from non-sectarian homes, took part in this study. Participants had to have resided in the nursing home $\le$9 months, scored $\ge$18 on the Mini-Mental State Exam and had no history of chronic depression by chart review. Examiners administered the Index of Religiosity (Zuckerman, Kasl, & Ostfeld, 1984), the Religious Orientation Scale-Revised (Gorsuch & Mc Pherson, 1989), the Geriatric Depression Scale (Brink, Yesavage, Lum, Heersma, Adley & Rose, 1982), and the Senior Apperception Technique (Bellak & Bellak, 1973).

Results revealed a highly religious population. Over 70% of the sample described themselves as "deeply" or "fairly" religious people who attend church/synagogue services on at least a bi-weekly basis. Although participants from religiously-affiliated homes scored significantly higher on three of the four measures of religiosity than did those from non-sectarian institutions, no difference was seen between the two kinds of homes for adjustment.

A multiple regression model revealed that intrinsic religious motivation was a significant predictor of better adjustment as measured by the Geriatric Depression Scale. A significant negative correlation was found between personal religious orientation and depression on the same measure but the association was not strong enough to be predictive. No significant results were found for adjustment as measured by the Senior Apperception Technique.

These findings provide additional support for the generally positive relationship between religiosity and lower levels of depression in older persons still residing in the community. They also suggest that this relationship holds up even under the stress of decline and loss serious enough to necessitate admission to a nursing home.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 57-04, Section: B, page: 2926.

Thesis (PH.D.)--LONG ISLAND UNIVERSITY, THE BROOKLYN CENTER, 1996.

School code: 0198.