Comparison of Sleep Health, Psychological Hardiness, and Social Responsibility in Community-Dwelling Older Adults and Nursing Home Residents

Abstract

Background and Objective: With the rapid global growth of the elderly population, identifying factors associated with their psychological and social well-being has become increasingly important. This study aimed to compare sleep health, psychological hardiness, and social responsibility between community-dwelling older adults and nursing home residents.

Materials and Methods: This causal-comparative (ex post facto) study examined differences between two naturally existing groups of older adults. A total of 120 participants (50 nursing home residents and 70 community-dwelling older adults) were recruited through convenience sampling. Data were collected using the Personal-Social Responsibility Questionnaire, the Sleep Health Scale (SHS) by Brandolim Becker et al., and the Kobasa Hardiness Scale. Data were ana- lyzed using SPSS software through descriptive statistics and independent samples t-tests with a significance level of 0.05.

Results: The mean age of participants was 66 years. Sleep health scores were significantly higher among community- dwelling older adults (19.31 ± 3.65) than nursing home residents (15.72 ± 3.11) [t(118) = -5.65, P = 0.001]. Similarly, social responsibility was significantly higher in community-dwelling participants (36.33 ± 6.13) compared with nursing home residents (24.74 ± 5.14) [t(118) = -10.91, P = 0.001]. No significant difference was observed in psychological hardiness between groups (P = 0.41).

Conclusion: The living environment appears to be associated with the sleep health and social responsibility of older adults, whereas psychological hardiness remains relatively stable across living conditions. These findings provide valu- able insights for policymakers and healthcare professionals in designing programs to improve the quality of life (QOL) in the older population.