Predicting Social Competence in the Elderly Based on Cognitive Decline, Chronic Fatigue, Interpersonal Needs, and Self-Worth

Background: The elderly population is increasing day by day, and paying attention to the status of this age group seems necessary for improving their social competence.Due to the growing population of the elderly and the specific conditions that affect them, they become socially isolated.For this reason, the issue of social competence in this population is of undeniable importance.The present study was conducted with the aim of predicting social competence in the elderly based on cognitive decline and chronic fatigue with the mediation of interpersonal needs and self-worth.Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional, descriptive-analytical study.Its statistical population included all elderly individuals in Ardabil city in the year 1402 (2023-2024), from whom 220 people were selected using purposive sampling.They then responded to the Social Competence Questionnaire by Flener, Lacy & Phillip (1990), the Interpersonal Needs Questionnaire by Hill & Pettit (2014), the Fatigue Questionnaire by Chalder (2004), the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), and the Self-Worth Scale by Crocker et al. (2003).Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation test, and path analysis statistical method for model fit were used for data analysis in SPSS version 24.Results: The results showed that the structural model of the study had a good fit.The results showed that social competence has a significant negative correlation with interpersonal needs (r = -0.63,P < 0.01), cognitive decline (r = -0.74,P < 0.01), and chronic fatigue (r = -0.56,P < 0.01).Also, social competence has a significant positive correlation with self-worth (r = 0.76, P < 0.01).Conclusion: It can be concluded that making necessary plans to increase self-worth and to address cognitive decline, chronic fatigue, and interpersonal needs of elderly individuals with low social competence seems essential.