Perceived Physical Health and Depressive Symptoms Among Older Nepali Adults: The Moderating Role of the Components of Hope and Self-Compassion, and Place of Residence.

Authors

Pralhad Adhikari, Clifford Lewis, Danielle Sulikowski, Suzanne McLaren

Published in

Clinical gerontologist. Pages 1-15. Oct 11, 2026. Epub Oct 11, 2026.

Abstract

This study examined whether the components of hope (agency and pathways) and self-compassion (self-warmth and self-coldness) moderate the relationship between poorer perceived physical health and depressive symptoms, and whether these moderating effects are conditional on place of residence.
A sample of 508 Nepali adults aged 60 to 95 years (M = 69.7, SD = 8.16) completed the Adult Hope Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, physical health items of the Duke Health Profile, and short form of the Geriatric Depression Scale.
Almost half (46.3%) of the sample had sub-threshold depressive symptoms. Pathways weakened the association between poorer perceived physical health and depressive symptoms for urban older adults. Self-coldness strengthened the association between poorer perceived physical health and depressive symptoms for rural older adults.
Pathways are a protective factor for Nepali older adults experiencing poorer perceived physical health from urban areas, whereas self-coldness is an additional risk factor for those living in rural areas.
Interventions aimed at reducing depressive symptoms among Nepali older adults with poorer perceived physical health should focus on increasing pathways in urban areas and reducing self-coldness in rural areas.

PMID:
42859899
Bibliographic data and abstract were imported from PubMed on 11 Oct 2026.

Read full publication at:
Please sign in to see all details.

Stats

1-terrible, 9-excellent. How would you rate this publication? Sign in in to submit your rating.

Post a comment

You need to be signed in to post comments. You can sign in here.

Comments

There are no comments yet.