Development of the Self-Assessment Self-Disclosure Questionnaire to Examine the Association between Self-Disclosure and Frailty among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Japan

TL;DR

This study developed a questionnaire to measure self-disclosure in older adults and found that lower self-disclosure is linked to frailty.

Contribution

The study introduces a new self-disclosure questionnaire and explores its association with frailty in older adults.

Findings

Frailty was associated with lower self-disclosure of positive events and personal strengths.

Lower self-disclosure of family relationships and financial status was also linked to frailty.

The questionnaire showed adequate validity and may help prevent frailty and improve mental health.

Abstract

Self-disclosure is the attitude of communicating one’s experiences and condition to others and is an indicator of mental health and an open personality. Frailty, characterized by reduced physical and psychological resistance, predicts the incidence of dependency and mortality. Although low self-disclosure may be associated with frailty, there is no scale to measure older adults’ self-disclosure. This cross-sectional study assessed the validity of a self-assessment self-disclosure questionnaire and examined the association between the content of self-disclosures to friends and acquaintances and frailty among community-dwelling older adults. A total of 237 adults aged ≥65 in Japan were surveyed using a mailed self-administered questionnaire in 2021. The self-disclosure scale consisted of 10 items and showed adequate validity. Participants were classified into a robust group (n = 117, women 57.3%) and a frailty group (n = 120, women 73.3%) using the Kihon Checklist. After adjusting for covariates, multivariate-adjusted logistic regression models revealed frailty was associated with lower self-disclosure of recent positive events, motivation and strengths (indicating strong points) in life, relationships with family and relatives, experiences of work and social activities, and financial status. The proposed questionnaire must still be further tested in other populations, but our initial results may contribute to preventing frailty and improving mental health among community-dwelling older adults.

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