Relationship of Lifestyle and Social Support with Marital Satisfaction of Elderly

Abstract

Objectives Given the improvement in personal and social health level of elderly people, especially in\rIran, the present study aimed to investigate the relationship of lifestyle and social support with marital\rsatisfaction in the elderly people.\rMethods & Materials The present study involved a cross-sectional descriptive correlation method. A\rtotal of 381 elderly people aged 60 years or above, as recorded by health care centers, were included\rin the study using random cluster samplings. They were asked to complete the Erich’s marital satisfaction\rquestionnaire, lifestyle questionnaire, as well as social support questionnaire. Data were collected\rby means of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Pierson correlation coefficient and stepwise\rregression) and analyzed by SPSS 21 software.\rResults The results indicated that lifestyle and social support are predictors of marital satisfaction. The\rstepwise regression analysis showed that the predicted variables that significantly contribute to the prediction\rof dependent variable (marital satisfaction) are social support and lifestyle (R2=0.46). Moreover,\rthere was no significant difference (P>0.05) between lifestyle, social support, and marital satisfaction\ramong elderly men and women.\rConclusion Our findings showed that social support and lifestyle are important elements in maintaining\rthe stability of marital satisfaction in the elderly people.