Adaptation difficulty and religious coping styles for the elderly in Turkey

Many physical and psychosocial changes occur in elderly people due to aging. These changes affect the adaptation, coping style, and quality of life of elderly people. This study was conducted to determine the adaptation difficulty to the process of aging and religious coping styles used by elderly people.

The research was conducted as a cross-sectional type. The sample consisted of 505 elderly people from seven family health centres of a city in Turkey. Data were collected via a personal information form, the Assessment Scale of Adaptation Difficulty for the Elderly, and the Religious Coping Scale.

The adaptation difficulty for the elderly total mean score was 0.52 (SD = 0.56). The positive religious coping mean score was 23.49 (SD = 5.30), and the negative religious coping mean score was 7.88 (SD = 3.20). While there was a negative weak relationship between the adaptation difficulty for the elderly and the positive religious coping (r = -0.147, P = 0.001), there was no significant relation between the adaptation difficulty for the elderly and the negative religious coping (r = -0.028, P > 0.05).

The results revealed that adaptation difficulty to the process of aging is low, elderly people use positive coping strategies, and adaptation to old age increased as positive coping strategies were used. Factors that affect religious coping must be considered to improve the health of elderly people.