ISSN:
0733-4273
Inhalt:
Racially diverse older adults are the hardest hit demographic by the COVID-19 pandemic. Suicide desire, which involves thwarted belongingness (TB; chronic loneliness and lack of reciprocal care) and perceived burdensomeness (PB; belief that one is a burden to others and society) has been argued to be exacerbated by this disaster. Conservation of resources (COR) theory posits that disasters, such as a pandemic, may cause individuals and communities to lose resources, leading to psychological distress, including suicide desire. When individuals lose resources, they often turn to their faith to cope (i.e., religious and spiritual (R/S) coping). This study invesitaged resource loss, TB, PB, and religious coping in older adults. Our participants (ages 62-107) varied in suicide desire pre-pandemic to pandemic, delineated by the following four groups: (1) those who never developed suicide desire, (2) those who developed suicide desire during COVID-19, (3) those whose suicide desire decreased during COVID-19, and (4) those who previously desired suicide and stayed at heightened risk during COVID-19. Resource loss is affiliated with group membership, and particular types of resource loss emerged as more salient. As older adult participants' negative religious coping increased, so did their suicide desire. Implications for treatment are provided, particularly the importance of fostering belongingness and buffering perceived burdensomeness with older adults, addressing specific resource losses and negative religious coping, along with suggestions for future research.
In:
Journal of psychology and christianity, Farmington Hills, Mich., 1982, 39(2020), 4, Seite 313-327, 0733-4273
In:
volume:39
In:
year:2020
In:
number:4
In:
pages:313-327
Sprache:
Englisch