Abstract:
Research findings have shown that personality characteristics play an important role
in studying factors affecting anxiety among older adults. Despite the importance of
this relationship, its underlying mechanism is still unclear. Therefore, the aim of this
study was to investigate the mediating role of sense of coherence in the relationship
between neuroticism and self-esteem as personality characteristics and anxiety
among older adults. A cross-sectional and correlational design was used for this
study. The sample included 230 community-dwelling older adults (aged 60-97) from
November to December 2019 in Tehran. Data were collected through the
sociodemographic variables, the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory-20 (Pachana, 2007) ,
the Sense of Coherence-13 scale (Antonovsky, 1993) , the Big Five Inventory
(Rammstedt & John, 2007) and the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (Rosenberg,
1965). Based on a multi-stage sampling approach, data were collected and analyzed
with the structural equation modeling. The older adults with high scores in
neuroticism and low self-esteem showed a low level of sense of coherence. Low
level of sense of coherence was associated with fewer symptoms of anxiety in older
adults. Besides, sense of coherence partially mediated the relationship between
personality characteristics (neuroticism and self-esteem) and anxiety in the elderly.
Regarding the mediating effect of sense of coherence in the relationship between
personality characteristics (neuroticism and self-esteem) and anxiety, improving the
level of sense of coherence may be an acceptable intervention to alleviate anxiety
among older adults that suffer from neuroticism and low self-esteem.