The relationship of hardiness and depression to disability in institutionalized older adults

Disability is an often expensive and sometimes preventable consequence of chronic illness. This study explored the relationship of hardiness and depression to disability in a sample (N = 58) of aged, institutionalized persons, controlling for length of stay (LOS) in the nursing home and physical health status. Using hierarchical regression analysis, LOS and physical health status accounted for 14.7% of the variance in disability (p = .01). Hardiness explained an additional 10.5% of the variance (p = .008). Depression accounted for an additional 7.4% (p = .02) of the variance in disability. The results of this study support the premise that psychological factors may increase a person's degree of disability beyond what might be expected from the physical illness or injury alone.