Introduction: Some factors can affect on older people's mental health including stress diversity, disability to face future and death and their attitudes towards death. However, the spirituality and positive affect have impact on elderly’s mental health. Therefore, the purpose of present study was investigating the role of spirituality and positive effect in attitudes towards death in elderlies of Yasuj city.
Method: This study was a descriptive correlational. The statistical population was included of men and women 55 years and older in Yasuj city. The statistical sample consisted of 250 subjects who selected by available sampling method. Data collection tools included revised questionnaire of attitudes towards death (DAP-R), positive and negative affect scale (PANAS) and spirituality questionnaire (SQ). Data were analyzed using software SPSS-17 and Pearson correlation coefficient, enter and stepwise regression analysis and path analysis.
Results: The results showed that there was a significant positive relationship between spirituality and attitude to death. There was a significant positive correlation between positive affect and attitudes towards death. The results of stepwise regression showed that spiritual self-awareness and spiritual activities were the best predictor of attitudes toward death. Also, the results of regression showed that positive affect than spirituality was better predictors for attitude toward death.
Conclusion: Based on the results obtained it can be concluded that positive affect and spirituality have influential role on the elderly attitudes toward death.