Abstract
Negative emotions have been prevalent with older adults and negatively affect their physical and mental health. On the basis of self-affirmation theory, the present study explored a set of simple and effective time-saving early intervention programs for older adults whose negative emotions are in a normal and controllable range. We designed a three-week intervention program to boost self-integrity and relieve negative emotions in older adults. The self-affirmation intervention group (n = 88) and control group (n = 85) received three different experimental manipulations, respectively. Self-integrity, depression, anxiety, and loneliness were assessed before and after the intervention. Results showed that the self-affirmation intervention highly improved self-integrity and further relieved the negative emotions of older adults in the intervention group. Further mediation analyses indicated that self-integrity mediated the effect of self-affirmation intervention on negative emotions. These findings enrich the field of research on the relationship between self-integrity and negative emotions. They also have important practical implications for interventions aimed at mitigating negative emotions among older adults.
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The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
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This work was supported by the National Social Science Fund of China (17BSH153) awarded to Baoshan Zhang and the Fundamental Research Funds For the Central Universities (2020TS012) awarded to Qingxiu Dang.
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Dang, Q., Wu, J., Bai, R. et al. Self-affirmation training can relieve negative emotions by improving self-integrity among older adults. Curr Psychol 42, 8816–8823 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02201-9
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-02201-9