Objective: The purpose of this research was to assess and contrast the impact of psychosocial therapies on older individuals’ death anxiety and to offer evidence-based recommendations to both older adults and healthcare professionals. Methods: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were collected through a thorough search of multiple databases such as PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, Scopus, etc. Review Manager 5.4 was employed to evaluate the caliber of the included studies, and STATA (15.1) was used for data analysis. Results: This study included seven randomized controlled trials with a total of 266 older adults, and the search time ranged from the earliest possible date to July 2024. The results of the Network Meta-Analysis (NMA) showed that the teaching the components of spiritual intelligence therapy significantly reduced death anxiety in the elderly (SUCRA: 99.6%). Conclusion: The network ranking chart showed that the teaching the components of spiritual intelligence therapy as a psychotherapeutic method, had the most superior efficacy in reducing death anxiety in the elderly.
Aisenberg-ShafranD.Bar-TurL.Levi-BelzY. (2022). Who is really at risk? The contribution of death anxiety in suicide risk and loneliness among older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. Death Studies, 46(10), 2517–2522. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2021.1947416
2.
ArndtJ.RoutledgeC.CoxC. R.GoldenbergJ. L. (2005). The worm at the core: A terror management perspective on the roots of psychological dysfunction. Applied and Preventive Psychology, 11(3), 191–213. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appsy.2005.07.002
3.
BazrafshanM.-R.FaramarzianZ.SoufiO.DelamH. (2022). The effect of group reminiscence therapy on death anxiety and adaptation of the elderly to old age. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing, 41(189), 312–316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apnu.2022.09.010
4.
ChaimaniA.HigginsJ. P.MavridisD.SpyridonosP.SalantiG. (2013). Graphical tools for network meta-analysis in STATA. PLoS One, 8(10), Article e76654. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0076654
5.
DahlanA.NicolM.MaciverD. (2010). Elements of life satisfaction amongst elderly people living in institutions in Malaysia: A mixed methodology approach. Hong Kong Journal of Occupational Therapy, 20(2), 71–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/s1569-18611170006-7
6.
FassbinderE.SchweigerU.MartiusD.Brand-de WildeO.ArntzA. (2016). Emotion regulation in schema therapy and dialectical behavior therapy. Frontiers in Psychology, 7, 1373. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2016.01373
7.
Gallagher-ThompsonD.SteffenA.ThompsonL. W. (2008). Handbook of behavioral and cognitive therapies with older adults. Springer.
8.
Gonzalez-SenacN. M.Somoza-FernandezG.Ocaña RamirezE.Romero-EstarlichV.Ortiz-AlonsoF. J.Serra-RexachJ. A.VidanM. T. (2023). Effects of reminiscence therapy on anxiety and depression during acute hospitalization in older patients: Controlled study. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 71(1), 36–45. https://doi.org/10.1111/jgs.18063
9.
HelmP. J.MedranoM. R.AllenJ. J.GreenbergJ. (2020). Existential isolation, loneliness, depression, and suicide ideation in young adults. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 39(8), 641–674. https://doi.org/10.1521/jscp.2020.39.8.641
10.
HigginsJ. P.AltmanD. G.GøtzscheP. C.JüniP.MoherD.OxmanA. D.SavovicJ.SchulzK. F.WeeksL.SterneJ. A.Cochrane Bias Methods Group, & Cochrane Statistical Methods Group. (2011). The Cochrane Collaboration’s tool for assessing risk of bias in randomised trials. Bmj, 343, d5928. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.d5928
11.
JacksonD.RileyR.WhiteI. R. (2011). Multivariate meta-analysis: Potential and promise. Statistics in Medicine, 30(20), 2481–2498. https://doi.org/10.1002/sim.4172
12.
JoK.-H.AnG.-J. (2018). Effects of a group reminiscence program on self-forgiveness, life satisfaction, and death anxiety among institutionalized older adults. Korean Journal of Adult Nursing, 30(5), 546–554. https://doi.org/10.7475/kjan.2018.30.5.546
13.
KheraR.MuradM. H.ChandarA. K.DulaiP. S.WangZ.ProkopL. J.LoombaR.CamilleriM.SinghS. (2016). Association of pharmacological treatments for obesity with weight loss and adverse events: A systematic review and meta-analysis. JAMA, 315(22), 2424–2434. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2016.7602
14.
Khodabakhshi-KoolaeeA.FalsafinejadM. R.ZoljalaliT.GhazizadehC. (2024). Dialectical behavior therapy: Effect on emotion regulation and death anxiety in older female adults. Omega-Journal of Death and Dying, 88(3), 1218–1231. https://doi.org/10.1177/00302228211065960
15.
LetznerR. D. (2024). Death anxiety in connection to anxiety and depressive disorders: A meta-analysis on emotional distress in clinical and community samples. Death Studies, 48(4), 393–406. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481187.2023.2230556
16.
MajidiA.MoradiO. (2018). Effect of teaching the components of spiritual intelligence on death anxiety in the elderly. Iranian Journal of Ageing, 13(1), 110–123. https://doi.org/10.21859/sija.13.1.110
17.
MarottaN.DemecoA.MoggioL.MarinaroC.PinoI.BarlettaM.PetraroliA.PepeD.LavanoF.AmmendoliaA. (2020). Comparative effectiveness of breathing exercises in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice, 41, Article 101260. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ctcp.2020.101260
18.
MenziesR. E.MenziesR. G. (2023). Death anxiety and mental health: Requiem for a dreamer. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 78(4), Article 101807. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbtep.2022.101807
NozariZ.Mo'tamediA.EskandariH.AhmadivandZ. (2019). Narrative group therapy to improve aging perceptions and reduce thanatophobia (death anxiety) in older adults. Elderly Health Journal, 5(2), 117–123.
21.
RafieeZ.MomeniK. (2018). The Effectiveness of optimist memory telling on death anxiety and the sense of aging in elderly. International Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 12(2), 69–75.
RoshaniK. (2012). Relationship between religious beliefs and life satisfaction with death anxiety in the elderly. Annals of Biological Research, 3(9), 4400–4405.
24.
SalantiG.AdesA.IoannidisJ. P. (2011). Graphical methods and numerical summaries for presenting results from multiple-treatment meta-analysis: An overview and tutorial. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 64(2), 163–171. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2010.03.016
25.
SamiM. B.NilforooshanR. (2015). The natural course of anxiety disorders in the elderly: A systematic review of longitudinal trials. International Psychogeriatrics, 27(7), 1061–1069. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1041610214001847
26.
SedighpourT.JamaliJ.Rajab DizavandiF.MohsenpourM. (2022). Effect of gerotranscendence educational program on death anxiety among the elderly. Evidence Based Care, 12(3), 25–32.
27.
Sharif NiaH.Pahlevan SharifS.KoocherG. P.YaghoobzadehA.HaghdoostA. A.Mar WinM. T.SoleimaniM. A. (2020). Psychometric properties of the death anxiety scale-extended among patients with end-stage renal disease. OMEGA-Journal of Death and Dying, 80(3), 380–396. https://doi.org/10.1177/0030222817733220
28.
SindiS.JusterR.-P.WanN.NairN.Ying KinN.LupienS. (2012). Depressive symptoms, cortisol, and cognition during human aging: The role of negative aging perceptions. Stress: The International Journal on the Biology of Stress, 15(2), 130–137. https://doi.org/10.3109/10253890.2011.599047
29.
Syed EliasS. M.NevilleC.ScottT. (2015). The effectiveness of group reminiscence therapy for loneliness, anxiety and depression in older adults in long-term care: A systematic review. Geriatric Nursing, 36(5), 372–380. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gerinurse.2015.05.004
30.
VatsD.FlegalJ. M.JonesG. L. (2019). Multivariate output analysis for Markov chain Monte Carlo. Biometrika, 106(2), 321–337. https://doi.org/10.1093/biomet/asz002
31.
WhiteM. (2024). Maps of narrative practice. WW Norton & Company.
32.
ZhangL.WuJ.ZhuZ.HeY.FangR. (2023). Mitochondrion: A bridge linking aging and degenerative diseases. Life Sciences, 322(4), Article 121666. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lfs.2023.121666
33.
ZhouW.HeG.GaoJ.YuanQ.FengH.ZhangC. K. (2012). The effects of group reminiscence therapy on depression, self-esteem, and affect balance of Chinese community-dwelling elderly. Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 54(3), e440–e447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2011.12.003
