Arunsiri Makapat. Self-esteem of the elderly in rural areas of Nakhon Sawan province . Master's Degree(Family Health). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2003.
Self-esteem of the elderly in rural areas of Nakhon Sawan province
Abstract:
The objective of this cross-sectional research was to study self-esteem of
the elderly and related factors. The subjects were 270 elderly aged 60 or above in
rural areas of Nakhon Sawan. The data were collected by interview questionnaires
from May 12 to May 25, 2003. Statistics used for data analysis were frequency,
percentage, mean, standard deviation, Pearson product moment correlation
coefficient, and Stepwise multiple regression.
Results revealed that more than half of the elderly (65.6%) had a moderate
level of self-esteem, followed by low level (19.3%, and high level 15.1%). The
factors that were statistically and significantly related to self-esteem of the elderly
(p-value < 0.05) were gender, marital status, educational level, activities of daily
living, personality, participation in family activities, participation in social
activities, and social support. In addition, social support, participation in social
activities, educational level, personality, participation in family activities, and
gender could significantly predict self-esteem of the elderly by 59.1%. The factor
with highest predictive power of self-esteem is social support.
Based on the finding, I recommend that the elderly should be encouraged to
participate in family and social activities. The realization of the importance of the
elderly should be promoted among family members by regular collective activities.
Moreover the level of social support should be high enough for the elderly to
maintain their self-esteem so that they can have happy lives without burden to
family and society.