The Relationship between Religious Orientation and Death Anxiety in the Elderly with the Mediating Role of Ageing Self, and Spiritual Health

Anxiety and worry about death can have negative effects on the lives of people, especially the elderly. Therefore, special attention and prevention of anxiety disorder in the elderly is necessary. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between religious orientation and death anxiety in the elderly with mediating role of ageing self and spiritual well-being. This research was a descriptive-correlation study. The statistical population of the study consisted of all elderly people over 58 years of age in Khorramabad city in 1397. The sampling method was 202 subjects (111 males and 91 females) selected as the sample. For data collection, religious orientation, aging, spiritual well-being and death anxiety questionnaires were used. Structural equation modeling was used as a statistical method for data analysis that indicated the significance of relationships between research variables. Also, the results of structural equation modeling showed that religious orientation has an indirect effect on ageing self and spiritual well-being on death anxiety. Based on the results of this study, it can be said that religious orientation through positive perception of aging and spiritual health is an important factor in reducing the death anxiety in the elderly