Loneliness Scale for Institutionalized Older Adults: A Preliminary Finding
Abstract
Objective. From the time of Greek mythology to the current digital age, loneliness has been considered an integral part of human life. Such feelings of loneliness are more pronounced in older adults who have been living in old age institutions. For the purpose of assessing the phenomenon of loneliness, a culturally relevant tool was developed.
Design. Cross sectional Design
Place & duration of study. The data was collected during the time period of November 2019 – January 2020 from the Old age institutes of Lahore.
Patients & Methods. In the first phase of the study, 16 older adults were interviewed to generate a pool of 37 items reflecting the phenomenon of loneliness as experienced by them. All the responses were gathered and the vague items were discarded. The developed tool was then validated through experts for their significance and relevance to the target population. Further, the tool was administered on 100 older adults selected through purposive sampling within the age range of 65 to 90 years (M= 73.15; SD= 6.42). Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale was also administered for concurrent validity.
Results. Exploratory factor analysis yielded three factor solution namely “Aloofness”, “Depressive Symptoms” and “Anxiety”. Results showed that the developed scale was highly consistent (α=.93). Results were further discussed in the light of cultural context.
Conclusion. This study has yielded a self-report measure of loneliness for institutionalized older adults with sound psychometric properties.
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