Psychological Well-being

Psychological well-being is a crucial concern of the elderly. There are a lot of factors that comprise this well-being. The main purpose of this study was to examine the status of psychological well-being of the elders (aged 60-89), and possible existential factors (religious involvement, spirituality and personal meaning in life) and demographic factors (gender, age and education) that affect the status. Data were collected from 329 elders (162 males, and 167 females) in Dessie Town through questionnaire and FGD with 3 groups of elders. Findings indicated that most elders had moderate and above moderate score on self-esteem, and autonomy. Moreover, reasonable number of elders had moderate and high score on depression. From the FGD result, income, health problem and social support are important factors that affect the elderly psychological well-being.