The primary objective of this study was to explore the prevalence of psychiatric disorders among the elderly in India and to find the mediating and moderating role of different coping strategies in dealing with them. 390 subjects with an age ranging from 50-90 years (M = 64.85, SD = 9.63) participated in this study. Results indicated that the main effect of resilience and religiosity was significant, but the interaction effect did not turn out to be significant. Resilient elderly people used proactive coping technique in order to achieve anticipatory preparedness. By using preventive and strategic coping techniques they were able to handle anxiety, depression, psychoticism, fear of aging, somatization, paranoia and cognitive competence whereas those using reflective coping technique were able to handle depression, psychoticism and fear of aging only. The findings have implication for intervention programme. Of all the factors, resilience and proactive coping strategy seems more important variables for mitigating the psychiatric/ psychological issues.
Resilience and proactive coping may be construed amenable to training, and hence have significance for intervention. Besides, religiosity seemed to enhance the effect of resilience in dealing with the mental health issues.
Recorded: July 2010 Brisbane, Australia
Coping Resilience & Hope Building, Asia Pacific Regional Conference
Organiser: The Brisbane Institute of Strengths Based Practice
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