疫情下马来西亚华裔老人的焦虑、社会支持与生活品质之关系研究 The Relationships of Anxiety, Social Support and Quality of Life among Malaysian Chinese Elderly during COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

2020年新冠肺炎来袭，研究显示老人的焦虑普遍提高，影响生活品质，社会支持被视为有助于提升心理健康，减缓疫情对老人的负面影响。本研究旨在探讨在疫情下马来西亚华裔老人的焦虑、社会支持及生活品质的现况；了解焦虑、社会支持与生活品质的关系；并检验社会支持是否能对焦虑与生活品质产生调节作用。本研究采取线上问卷调查方法，以马来西亚169名华裔老人（55岁及以上，M=63.7）为研究对象。结果发现：（一）华裔老人在疫情期间呈现低度的焦虑；获得的社会支持处在中上程度，其中实质支持最高，情感/关爱支持最低；生活品质处在中上程度，以环境范畴最高，社会关系范畴最低。（二）年纪越大的老人（65岁及以上）比年轻老人焦虑；65岁及以上的已婚男性，所获得的实质支持最多；女性生活品质中的生理范畴显著高于男性。（三）社会支持与生活品质有显著正相关；（四）社会支持对华裔老人的焦虑与生活品质没有出现调节作用。针对上述结果，本研究提出与讨论以网络问卷对老人群体进行研究的限制，并提出相关建议供老人照顾者、辅导人员及老人政策决定者等及未来研究参考之用。

Since the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, the impact of the pandemic on people around the world is currently being studied. The elderly population has been increasing rapidly in recent years, and the quality of life issues of the elderly are receiving more and more attention. The purpose of this study is to examine the anxiety, social support, and quality of life of the Chinese elderly in Malaysia during the pandemic. This is so that the relationship between anxiety, social support, and quality of life can be further under- stood. At the same time, whether social support can moderate the effects of anxiety and quality of life can also be examined. In this study, an online questionnaire was used to study 169 Chinese elderly (55 years old and above, M=63.7) individuals in Malaysia. The results showed that: (a) the Chinese elderly showed low anxiety during the pandemic; the social support received was moderate to high, with Substantive support being the highest and Affection support being the lowest; however, quality of life was moderate to high, with Environmental domain being the highest and social relationships being the lowest. (b) The senior elderly (65 years and older) were more anxious than the younger ones; married men aged 65 years and older received the most Substantial support; while women had significantly higher Physical domain in quality of life than men. (c) Social support was positively correlated to quality of life. Lastly, (d) Social support did not moderate the effect of anxiety and quality of life among the Chinese elderly. In response to the above results, this study discussed the limitations of online survey in elderly groups and makes recommendations to decision makers on policies for the elderly, elderly caregivers, counsellors, as well as for future research.