Nikolakakis N, Dragioti E, Paritsis N, Tsamakis K, Christodoulou N G, Rizos E N
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, Heraklion, Crete, Greece.
Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden.
Psychiatriki. 2019 Oct-Dec;30(4):299-310. doi: 10.22365/jpsych.2019.304.299.
Research has shown that socio-demographic profile and psychopathology symptoms are related to levels of happiness in old age. The aims of this cross-sectional study were: 1) to investigate the effect of recent stressful life events and socio-demographic factors on psychopathological symptoms in elderly residents in mountain regions of Crete, Greece and 2) to explore the mechanism which underlies the relationship between socio-demographic factors and psychopathological symptoms, with levels of happiness in old age. To this end, we used the nine psychopathology dimensions of symptoms as defined in the Symptom Checklist-90-R (SCL-90), while the Holmes and Rahe stress inventory was administered to quantify the stressful life events. A sample of 205 elderly men and women (age=77.1±6.7 years) living in 10 remote rural and isolated villages participated in this study. Data was collected through questionnaires completed upon individual meetings with each participant, with the interviewer's assistance. Each questionnaire included the two aforesaid scales alongside questions on individual socio-demographic characteristics. Analysis of variance was applied to detect socio-demographic factors that have a significant effect on specific psychopathological symptoms. Then, path analysis was applied to quantify the direct and indirect effect of the selected socio-demographic factors on happiness levels. Stressful life events were found to have no statistically significant effect on the presence of specific symptoms (somatization, psychoticism, anxiety) in elderly adults. Furthermore, certain socio-demographic factors (marital status, smoking, family income and social activity) were found to influence happiness, which varied according to the level of psycho-emotional tension. The results suggest that somatization, psychoticism, and phobic anxiety symptoms are psychic reactions independent of recent stressful life events. Our study,despite its regional character, may contribute in the development of appropriate clinical assessment tools and interventions, helping primary care practitioners to approach elderly people living in remote villages in a more appropriate and holistic manner, improving thereby the effectiveness of their interventions.
研究表明，社会人口学特征和精神病理学症状与老年时期的幸福水平相关。这项横断面研究的目的是：1）调查近期应激性生活事件和社会人口学因素对希腊克里特岛山区老年居民精神病理学症状的影响；2）探讨社会人口学因素与精神病理学症状之间的关系以及老年时期幸福水平背后的机制。为此，我们采用了症状自评量表90修订版（SCL - 90）中定义的九个精神病理学症状维度，同时使用霍尔姆斯和拉赫压力量表来量化应激性生活事件。来自10个偏远农村和孤立村庄的205名老年男性和女性（年龄 = 77.1±6.7岁）参与了本研究。数据是通过在采访者协助下与每位参与者单独会面时完成的问卷收集的。每份问卷都包括上述两个量表以及关于个人社会人口学特征的问题。采用方差分析来检测对特定精神病理学症状有显著影响的社会人口学因素。然后，应用路径分析来量化所选社会人口学因素对幸福水平的直接和间接影响。结果发现，应激性生活事件对老年人特定症状（躯体化、精神病性、焦虑）的出现没有统计学上的显著影响。此外，某些社会人口学因素（婚姻状况、吸烟、家庭收入和社会活动）被发现会影响幸福感，这种影响因心理情绪紧张程度而异。结果表明，躯体化、精神病性和恐惧焦虑症状是独立于近期应激性生活事件的心理反应。我们的研究尽管具有地区性特点，但可能有助于开发适当的临床评估工具和干预措施，帮助初级保健从业者以更合适和全面的方式接触偏远村庄的老年人，从而提高他们干预措施的有效性。
