INFLUENCE OF A CONFIDANT ON THE MORALE OF INSTITUTIONALIZED ELDERLY WOMEN (CHOICE, CONTROL).
Contributors: Boston University.
Published: 1986
Number of pages: 152
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.; Gerontology.
Description: Previous research has identified a relationship between having a close friend and morale. The objective of this investigation was to test the relationship between having a close friend, defined as a confidant, and morale in institutionalized elderly women. In addition, specific descriptive data on morale and characteristics of confidants and the confidant relationship was sought.

A total of 61 elderly women residing in two nursing homes in the Greater Boston area who were able to score five or fewer errors on the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire (Pfeiffer, 1975) were interviewed. The Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale (Lawton, 1975), a 17 item dichotomous response questionnaire, was used to measure morale: the higher the score, the higher the morale. The Confidant Questionnaire, part of a large survey questionnaire (Bultena, Powers, Faulkman & Frederick, 1971), was designed to provide descriptive data about the confidant. Findings indicated that 57% of the sample had moderate to high morale and that 70% had a confidant at the time of the study.

The hypothesis, "there will be a significant difference in morale between elderly institutionalized women who have a confidant and those who do not have a confidant," was tested using a one-tailed t test. No difference in morale scores was found using the .05 level of significance.

Additional analysis identified a significant relationship between morale and health (p < .001), loss of a confidant (p < .01) and perceived voluntary admission (p < .001) to the nursing home. Analysis of covariance, with health as the covariate, identified perceived voluntary admission as the most important predictor of morale in this population: respondents who perceived admission to the nursing home as voluntary had significantly higher morale than the respondents who perceived admission as involuntary (p < .01), even with the effects of health controlled. In addition, there was a significant interaction between having a confidant and perceived choice over admission (p .01). Subjects with a confidant who perceived admission as involuntary had higher morale than subjects without a confidant who perceived admission as involuntary.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 47-04, Section: B, page: 1492.

Thesis (D.N.SC.)--BOSTON UNIVERSITY, 1986.

School code: 0017.