Background: Attachment styles and attitudes towards meaning in life are crucial factors in sustaining an active life in old age.
Objectives: No study was found to investigate the relationship between these two variables. So, the present study was conducted to examine the relationship between attachment styles and meaning in life in older adults.
Materials and Methods: In this descriptive, correlation, cross sectional study, 235 elders were selected from the retirees’service centers in Sari, Iran according to stratified random sampling method between July and October 2016. The research tools were the multi-part demographic questionnaire, the Hazan and Shaver’s attachment style questionnaire (1987) and Steger’s (2006) meaning in life questionnaire. The data were analyzed in SPSS - 21 with descriptive and inferential tests at P > 0.05.
Results: The majority of the participants were female (51.9%) with the mean age of 68.2 ± 6.9 years (range: 60-89 years). Their mean score was 45.3±6.7 for the attachment style pattern, 51.9±7.9 for meaning in life, 27.8±4.6 for the presence dimension, and 24.1±4.5 for the search dimension. The secure attachment style had the highest mean in both the presence (29.6±4.8) and the search (24.6±4.6). The results of the Spearman’s correlation coefficient showed a positive and significant relationship between the total score of the attachment style and meaning in life for older adults.
Conclusions: This finding can be used in developing more knowledge and predicting attitude and satisfaction in aged, and might also serve as a suitable guide for planning their psychological and life programs