Psychotherapeutic Intervention to Deal with Depression in the Elderly
Keywords:
Afrontamiento, depresión, tercera edad, entrenamiento en reevaluación cognitivaAbstract
Introduction: Vital events that occur in the elderly are a frequent cause of depression which requires the use of strategies that allow adaptive coping with them. Cognitive reappraisal (CR) is a strategy that favors the control of emotion. Currently, cognitive reappraisal training has emerged as a therapeutic alternative for the treatment of depression.
Objective: To apply a psychotherapeutic intervention to strengthen adaptive coping with depression in the elderly based on CR training.
Methods: A research with a qualitative approach was carried out, using the focus group methodology. The Yesavage Geriatric Depression Scale (YGDS) and the Gross and John Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (ERQ) were used as clinical measures, before and after the psychotherapeutic intervention to assess subjects’ variation in symptomatology and self-perception.
Results: The intervention had good results. All the subjects improved their depressive symptoms according to YGDS, and most of them improved their ERQ scores. A significant part of the older adults studied showed emotion regulation strategies that favor adaptive coping, such as acceptance, self-control, search for social support and cognitive reappraisal. Some of the subjects showed difficulties in the
egulation of the emotional response (avoidance, distancing and confrontation), generating a maladaptive coping.
Conclusions: A gradual acquisition of CR strategies was shown. Negative situations had a greater emotional impact on the subjects studied. A favorable evolution of the participants’ affective state was clearly seen, as well as a tendency towards CR as an emotional regulation strategy.
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