Relationship of social network, social support, religiosity and perceived stress among older adults in Peninsular Malaysia

Perceived stress is an important indicator of mental and physical health amo ng elderly. Chronic activation from stress perceived by elderly may negatively affect their mental and physical health over time, which subsequently cause increase in the number of elderly seeking medical treatments. Social network, social support and relig iosity may influence elderly’s perceived stress, however there is a dearth of research on perceived stressed among older Malaysians. Thus, this study aims to determine the predictors of perceived stress among older adults in Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 2322 older respondents participated in this study. Instruments used in this study included Perceived Stress Scale-4, Lubben Social Network-6, Medical Outcome Study Social Support Survey, and Religiosity Intrinsic-Extrinsic Scale. Data analyzes were carried out using SPSS, 22. Mean age of the respondents was 69.1 years and 52% were female. The ethnics distribution was 62.5% Malay, 32.2% Chinese, 5.1% Indians and 0.2% other ethnicity. The mean social network of respondents was 22.3 (SD = 16.81), social support 39.7 (SD = 14.78) and religiosity 57.6 (SD = 8.57). The prevalence of high stress was 8.6%, moderate stress was 59.8% and low stress was 31.6%. A multiple linear regression analysis was utilized to determine the predictors of stress. The results showed that gender (β = 0.115, p< 0.01) and social support (β = - 0.095, p<0.05) were significant predictors of perceived stress among elderly. The results indicated that being women and had lower social support were more likely to develop perceived stress in late life. Therefore, older adults should have better social support and being encouraged to participate in social and activities to prevent from stress.

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