Socioeconomic Status and Mental Health among Elderly Adults Residing in Jaipur City

The present study aimed to assess the mental health of 150 elderly (75 women and 75 men), age varying from 60 to 75 years, belonging to different economic groups. A scale for the assessment of socio-economic status by Tiwari et al., (2012) and the Mental Health Inventory (MHI-38) by Viet and Ware (1983) to assess mental health were administered on the subjects. The results showed that depression, anxiety, and loss of behavioral control were high in elderly females of this study, while emotional ties, the general positive affect, and life satisfaction were high in elderly males as compared to their female counterparts. Among different economic groups, high-income group elderly adults were found to have the highest emotional ties, general positive effect, and life satisfaction while the elderly belonging to the low-income group were found to have the highest depression, anxiety, and loss of behavioural control.