The Impact of Social Exclusion on Frailty in Older Adults: The Mediating Role of Self-Neglect and Trait Mindfulness

Based on Self-Determination Theory, this study explored the mechanism underlying the impact of social exclusion on frailty among the elderly. A total of 389 community-dwelling elderly adults aged 60 and above were recruited as participants using the random sampling method. Validated scales, which had undergone the “translation-back translation” procedure, were employed to measure social exclusion, self-neglect, trait mindfulness, and frailty. After controlling for variables such as gender, confirmatory factor analysis, hierarchical regression, and Bootstrap test were conducted using SPSS 25.0 and Mplus 7.4. The results showed that: (1) Social exclusion increased self-neglect in the elderly, thereby exacerbating their frailty; (2) Self-neglect in the elderly had a positive effect on their frailty; (3) Trait mindfulness negatively moderated the relationship between social exclusion and self-neglect in the elderly.