Abstract
Objective: Belief in a just world (BJW) modulates people's abilities to cope with anxiety, fear, and life transitions and thus depression and its debilitating effects. Little is known about how Belief in a just world modulates these coping abilities in elderly nursing home residents or their levels of depression either.
Participants: A sample of 354 cognitively able elderly nursing home residents in Lebanon was selected for the study.
Methods: This study, therefore, explored elderly belief in a just world (BJW-S) by gender and length of time in elderly homes in its relation to levels of depression as measured by the Geriatric Depression Rating Scale (GDS) and the Mini-Mental State Examination screening instrument for older adults.
Results: The findings showed no main significant effects for gender or length-of-stay on level of depression. The chief significant difference found was for scores on the belief in a just world scale and levels of depression. Those who had high scores on belief in a just world scored low on depression, and vice-versa.
Conclusions: Therefore, a strong belief in a just world seemed to act as a preventative or coping mechanism against depression from initial transition forward for elderly nursing home residents.