Self-compassion and its relationship to geriatric depression among the elderly

Abstract

The study aimed to identify the nature of the relationship between self-compassion and geriatric depression among the elderly in the Secretariat Capital, Sana’a. It sought to determine the levels of self-compassion and depression in the study sample, as well as to analyze any differences in these variables based on gender. The researcher employed a descriptive approach and the sample consisted of (190) elderly, whose ages ranged from 60 to 95, with an average age of (66.04) years and a standard deviation of (7.58). To gather data, the researcher utilized the Self-Compassion Scale developed by Neff (2003) and the Geriatric Depression Scale by Yesavage et al. (1982). The results revealed that the average of self-compassion in the study sample was higher than the hypothetical average, while the average of depression was found to be lower than the hypothetical average. The study sample was distributed into three levels of self-compassion, respectively: high (20.5%), medium (77.4%), and low (2.1%). In terms of depression, the levels were: severe (16.8%), moderate (50.0%), and mild or normal (33.2%). Additionally, a statistically significant inverse relationship was identified between self-compassion and depression, with a correlation coefficient of (-0.57) at a significance level of (0.01) The study concluded that there were statistically significant differences in self-compassion based on gender, favoring males. Conversely, the findings also indicated that there were statistically significant differences in depression according to gender, favoring females.