Meaning in Life and Mental Health Issues in Older Adults: A Meta-Analysis

This study aims to be the fi rst to use meta-analysis to explore the relationship between meaning in life (MIL) and mental health issues among older adults. A meta-analysis was conducted using six databases, resulting in 16 studies with 5,074 participants in total. The “ metacor ” and “ forestplot ” packages in R-Studio were used for data analysis. The total effect was calculated using a random-effects model, with I² = 86% in the heterogeneity test. The results showed a moderate negative correlation between MIL and mental health issues among older adults, with an average effect of − 0.37. Five potential moderating variables were examined: the conceptualization of MIL (value vs . purpose), region (Asian vs . Western countries), residence status (community vs . nursing home vs . hospital), types of mental health issues, and evaluation methods (clinical vs . non-clinical). The fi rst four had no signi fi cant moderating effect. The mean correlation coef fi cients between mental health issues and value/purpose were − 0.49/ − 0.33; the mean correlation coef fi cients in Asian countries and Western countries were − 0.48 and − 0.34; the mean correlation coef fi cients among participants living in community/nursing home/mixed status were − 0.33/ − 0.40/ − 0.40; the mean correlation coef fi cients between MIL and depression/others were − 0.37/ − 0.35; however, the negative relationship between MIL and mental health issues was stronger when non-clinical evaluations (self-report only) were used. Speci fi cally, the mean correlation coef fi cient for non-clinical evaluations was − 0.42 and for clinical evaluations was − 0.29. This study is the fi rst meta-analysis to identify the negative correlation between older adults ’ MIL and mental health issues. Signi fi cant moderating effects of evaluation methods were found.

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