Abstract:

The present study sought to investigate the relationship between depressive symptomatology in the elderly and (a) the interpersonal problem-solving cognitive ability and (b) the strength and the frequency of the occurrence of pleasant and unpleasant events and activities. Thre3 hundred and ten (310) semi-institutionalized older adults living in home for the aged answered the Depressive Symptomatology Questionnaire, the Means-Ends Problem-Solving Procedure, the Pleasant and the Unpleasant Events Schedules for Older Adults. Regression analysis indicated that collectively these three cognitive and behavioral variables accounted for about 50% of the variance in predicting depressive symptoms. More specifically, the results revealed that the more depressed an older adult (a) the lower the effectiveness of interpersonal problem-solving, (b) the lower the frequency, the subjective enjoyability and the obtained reinforcement of the pleasant events and (c) the higher the frequency, the subjective aversiveness and the experienced aversion of unpleasant events Furthermore according to the results depressive symptoms were not related to age and to length of institutionalization. However, they were significantly associated with health problems. Implications for counseling are discussed.