{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,10]],"date-time":"2026-06-10T02:02:12Z","timestamp":1781056932097,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":41,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1760140800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100003976","name":"Israel National Institute for Health Policy Research","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["#204\/2018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["#204\/2018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100003976","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["EJIHPE"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide (EPAS) are highly contentious topics with significant medical, legal, and cultural implications. Previous research suggests that various sociodemographic, health, and psychosocial factors determine attitudes toward EPAS. This study set out to identify psychosocial predictors of support for EPAS. We hypothesized that perceived control, self-efficacy, and social support would each predict support for EPAS after controlling for sociodemographic and health-related variables. Methods: For this study, we recruited 446 Jewish Israeli adults who were 82.32 years of age on average (SD = 5.99; range 65\u2013101 years). Participants completed a battery of questionnaires including a series of vignettes featuring hypothetical family members with a terminal illness (i.e., cancer, dementia, Parkinson\u2019s disease). We performed a three-step hierarchical regression equation, controlling for demographic factors (age, gender, education, relationship status, economic status, and religiosity) as well as perceived and relative physical health. Results: As hypothesized, both self-efficacy and (the absence of) social support predicted support for EPAS; perceived control did not. Religiosity was the strongest predictor of opposition to EPAS. Fully 31% of variance in support for EPAS was predicted by this regression model. Conclusion: Support for EPAS does not appear to reflect a pervasive need for control over all aspects of life (i.e., perceived control) but a more specific need for personal autonomy (i.e., self-efficacy). Longitudinal research is required over multiple points of data collection to ascertain how change in social support affects support for EPAS in late life. Policy makers should embrace these findings when formulating end-of-life care policies, ensuring that both social support and personal autonomy are prioritized in the care of older adults.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ejihpe15100207","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,13]],"date-time":"2025-10-13T13:13:27Z","timestamp":1760361207000},"page":"207","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Predictors of Support for Euthanasia and Physician-Assisted Suicide (EPAS) Among Older Adults in Israel"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Amit","family":"Dolev Nissani","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Goldman School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5100-427X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Norm","family":"O\u2019Rourke","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"},{"name":"The Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"},{"name":"Department of Psychology, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Sara","family":"Carmel","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yaacov G.","family":"Bachner","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics, and Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"},{"name":"The Center for Multidisciplinary Research in Aging, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, Be\u2019er Sheva 8410501, Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"781","DOI":"10.1177\/1049909112472721","article-title":"Attitude toward euthanasia scale: Psychometric properties and relations with religious orientation, personality, and life satisfaction","volume":"30","author":"Aghababaei","year":"2013","journal-title":"American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1080\/07481187.2012.731026","article-title":"Personality factors and attitudes toward euthanasia in Iran: Implications for end-of-life research and practice","volume":"38","author":"Aghababaei","year":"2014","journal-title":"Death Studies"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"567","DOI":"10.62345\/jads.2024.13.1.47","article-title":"Relationship between attitude towards euthanasia and perceived social supp ort","volume":"13","author":"Bakhsh","year":"2024","journal-title":"Journal of Asian Development Studies"},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"244","DOI":"10.1016\/j.paid.2016.09.034","article-title":"Predicting moral sentiment towards physician-assisted suicide: The role of religion, conservatism, authoritarianism, and Big Five personality","volume":"105","author":"Bulmer","year":"2017","journal-title":"Personality and Individual Differences"},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"432","DOI":"10.1111\/jssr.12111","article-title":"Is religious attendance bottoming out? 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