Jia Yuling, Yue Yuexue, Sheng Yu
School of Nursing, Guizhou Medical University, Guiyang, 561113, China.
School of Nursing, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100144, China.
BMC Nurs. 2025 Jan 3;24(1):4. doi: 10.1186/s12912-024-02637-x.
Self-neglect is a significant global public health issue, compromising the health, safety, and well-being of older adults. Despite extensive research on the prevalence and risk factors of self-neglect, the underlying psychosocial mechanisms remain underexplored. Social isolation and aging attitudes have been identified as important correlates of self-neglect; however, the precise interplay between these variables, particularly the mediating role of aging attitudes, has yet to be fully examined in the context of rural older adults.
This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the relationships among social isolation, aging attitudes, and self-neglect, focusing on how aging attitudes mediate the association between social isolation and self-neglect among rural older adults living alone in China.
Using convenience sampling, we conducted a survey from December 2022 to February 2023 among rural older adults living alone across eight cities in Guizhou Province, Southwest China. Data were gathered using the General Information Questionnaire, Attitudes to Ageing Questionnaire, Lubben Social Network Scale-6, and Scale of the Elderly Self-Neglect. Data were analyzed using SPSS 27.0 and the PROCESS macro tool.
The scores for aging attitude, social isolation, and self-neglect among older adults living alone in rural areas were 75.00 (69.00-82.00), 16.00 (12.00-21.00), and 10.00 (8.00-14.00), respectively. Social isolation was positively associated with aging attitude (r = 0.353, P < 0.05) and negatively correlated with self-neglect (r = -0.371, P < 0.05). Self-neglect was also negatively correlated with aging attitude (r = -0.367, P < 0.05). Aging attitude partially mediated the relationship between social isolation and self-neglect among older adults living alone in rural areas, with a mediation effect of -0.077, accounting for 28.20% of the total effect.
The findings suggest that aging attitudes and social isolation among rural older adults living alone are associated with self-neglect. Furthermore, social isolation may be linked to self-neglect indirectly through its association with aging attitudes. Healthcare professionals should develop strategies to promote positive aging attitudes and enhance social networks of this vulnerable population, contributing to prevent or alleviate their self-neglect behaviours.
自我忽视是一个重大的全球公共卫生问题，危及老年人的健康、安全和福祉。尽管对自我忽视的患病率和风险因素进行了广泛研究，但其潜在的心理社会机制仍未得到充分探索。社会孤立和对衰老的态度已被确定为自我忽视的重要相关因素；然而，这些变量之间的确切相互作用，特别是衰老态度的中介作用，在农村老年人的背景下尚未得到充分研究。
本横断面研究旨在调查社会孤立、衰老态度和自我忽视之间的关系，重点关注衰老态度如何在中国农村独居老年人中中介社会孤立与自我忽视之间的关联。
采用便利抽样，于2022年12月至2023年2月在中国西南部贵州省八个城市的农村独居老年人中进行了一项调查。使用一般信息问卷、衰老态度问卷、鲁本社会网络量表-6和老年人自我忽视量表收集数据。使用SPSS 27.0和PROCESS宏工具进行数据分析。
农村独居老年人的衰老态度、社会孤立和自我忽视得分分别为75.00（69.00 - 82.00）、16.00（12.00 - 21.00）和10.00（8.00 - 14.00）。社会孤立与衰老态度呈正相关（r = 0.353，P < 0.05），与自我忽视呈负相关（r = -0.371，P < 0.05）。自我忽视也与衰老态度呈负相关（r = -0.367，P < 0.05）。衰老态度在农村独居老年人的社会孤立和自我忽视之间的关系中起部分中介作用，中介效应为-0.077，占总效应的28.20%。
研究结果表明，农村独居老年人的衰老态度和社会孤立与自我忽视有关。此外，社会孤立可能通过其与衰老态度的关联间接与自我忽视相关。医疗保健专业人员应制定策略，以促进积极的衰老态度并加强这一弱势群体的社会网络，有助于预防或减轻他们的自我忽视行为。
