Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-r6qrq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T09:49:19.269Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Brief-Time-Series Analysis of Depressive Symptomatology in Older People

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Testal  and
María Valdés Díaz
Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Testal*
Affiliation:
University of Seville
María Valdés Díaz
Affiliation:
University of Seville
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Testal, Dpto. De Personalidad, Evaluación y Tratamientos Psicológicos, Facultad de Psicología, Universidad de Sevilla, C/ Camilo José Cela, s/n, 41018 Sevilla, Spain. E-mail: testal@us.es
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This research shows the utility of systematic data-gathering from older people and of a statistical analysis procedure for interpreting the data. Four cases of institutionalized older people are presented, and their scores of depressive symptomatology over a period of one to two years is analyzed. Time-series analysis showed a significant positive trend of depression symptomatology in two of the cases, perhaps too subtle for detection in routine clinical check-up, but statistically verifiable. In one of these cases, none of the factors of the scale stands out, despite the fact that the general index shows a statistically significant change over the 36 observations made, so that the results obtained are related to the syndrome of depletion or exhaustion. In the second of the cases, we detect a significant change in the depressive mood factor, which may indicate a subclinical depressive form in its initial stages. Continuous registers can reveal valuable information about situations and progress in the evolution of an older person's mood, with regard to natural development, the prelude to a mood disorder, or follow-up in clinical cases.

Este trabajo de investigación muestra la utilidad de la recogida sistemática de información en personas de edad avanzada así como un procedimiento de análisis estadístico para la interpretación de la misma. Se presentan cuatro casos de ancianos institucionalizados y se analizan las puntuaciones obtenidas en sintomatología depresiva durante un periodo de entre uno y casi dos años. El análisis de series temporales muestra una tendencia significativa al alza de la sintomatología depresiva en dos de los casos, tal vez sutil para exploraciones clínicas rutinarias, pero demostrable desde un punto de vista estadístico. En uno de estos casos no destaca ninguno de los factores sintomáticos de la escala, a pesar de que el índice general muestra un cambio estadísticamente significativo a lo largo de las 36 observaciones realizadas, por lo que los resultados obtenidos se relacionan con el síndrome de depleción o agotamiento. En el segundo de los casos, se detecta un cambio significativo en el factor del estado de ánimo depresivo, por lo que puede tratarse de una forma depresiva subclínica en sus inicios. Un registro continuado puede revelar información valiosa acerca de lo que sucede en la evolución anímica de una persona de edad avanzada, sea como desarrollo anímico natural, como preludio de una alteración del humor o como seguimiento de casos clínicos.

Keywords

depressionsymptomatologytime-seriesold agestressdepletiondepresiónsintomatologíaseries temporalesvejezestrésdepleción
Type
Articles
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 6 , Issue 1 , May 2003 , pp. 35 - 50
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2003

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Alexopoulos, G.S. (1994). Biological correlates of late-life depression. In Schneider, L.S., Reynolds, C.F., Lebowitz, B.D., & Friedhoff, A.J. (Eds.), Diagnosis and treatment of depression in late life: Results of the NIH Consensus Development Conference (pp. 101–116). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (1994). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
American Psychiatric Association (2000). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders (4th ed., Text Revision). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Association.Google Scholar
Baker, F.M., & Miller, C.L. (1991). “Cocooning”: A clinical sign of depression in geriatric patients. Hospital and Community Psychiatry, 42, 845–846.Google ScholarPubMed
Brandstädter, J., & Greve, W. (1994). The aging self: Stabilizing and protective processes. Developmental Review, 14, 52–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brink, T.L., Yesavage, J.A., Lum, O., Heersema, P.H., Adey, M., & Rose, T.L. (1982). Screening tests for geriatric depression. Clinical Gerontologist, 1, 37–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brooks, J., Chmura, H., Decker, E., & Yesavage, J. (1993). The methodology of studying decline in Alzheimer's disease. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 41, 623–628.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Carney, M.W.P., Roth, M., & Garside, R.F. (1965). The diagnosis of depressive syndromes and the prediction of ETC response. British Journal of Psychiatry, 23, 659–674.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
De Beurs, E., Beekman, A., Geerlings, S., Deeg, D., van Dyck, R., & van Tilburg, W. (2001). On becoming depressed or anxious in late life: Similar vulnerability factors but different effects of stressful life events. British Journal of Psychiatry, 179, 426–431.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
DeCarlo, L.T., & Tryon, W.W. (1993). Estimating and testing autocorrelation with small samples: A comparison of the C-statistic to a modified estimator. Behavior Research and Therapy, 31, 781–788.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Folstein, M.F., Folstein, S.E., & McHugh, P.R. (1975). Mini-Mental State: A practical method for grading the cognitive state of patients for the clinician. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 12, 189–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Forsell, Y., Jorm, A.F., & Winblad, B. (1994). Association of age, sex, cognitive dysfunction, and disability with major depressive symptoms in an elderly sample. American Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 1600–1604.Google Scholar
Gallo, J.J., Anthony, J.C., & Muthén, B.O. (1994). Age differences in the symptoms of depression: A latent trait analysis. Journal of Gerontology, 49, 251–264.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gallo, J.J., Rabins, P.V., Lyketsos, C.G., Tien, A.Y., & Anthony, J.C. (1997). Depression without sadness: Functional outcomes of nondysphoric depression in later life. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 45, 570–578.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gatz, M. (2000). Variations on depression in later life. In Qualls, S.H. & Abeles, N. (Eds.), Psychology and the aging revolution. How to adapt to longer life (pp. 239–254). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gatz, M., & Zarit, S.H. (1999). A good old age: Paradox or possibility? In Bengtson, V.L. & Schaie, K.W. (Eds.), Handbook of theories of aging (pp. 396–416). New York: Springer-Verlag.Google Scholar
Izal, M., & Montorio, I. (1993). Adaptation of the Geriatric Depression Scale in Spain: A preliminary study. Clinical Gerontologist, 13, 83–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Izal, M., & Montorio, I. (1996). Adaptación en nuestro medio de la Escala de Depresión Geriátrica (GDS) en distintos subgrupos: residentes en la comunidad y asistentes a hospitales de día. Revista de Gerontología, 6, 329–337.Google Scholar
Joiner, T.E. Jr (2000). Depression: Current developments and controversies. In Qualls, S.H. & Abeles, N. (Eds.), Psychology and the aging revolution. How to adapt to longer life (pp. 223–237). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jorm, A.F. (1995). The epidemiology of depressive states in the elderly: Implications of recognition, intervention and prevention. Social Psychiatry and Psychiatric Epidemiology, 30, 53–59.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Karel, M.J. (1997). Aging and depression: Vulnerability and stress across adulthood. Clinical Psychology Review, 17, 847–879.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kongstvedt, S.J., & Sime, W. (1992). Diagnosis of depression in early- and late-onset geriatric depression: An evaluation of commonly used self-assessment measures. Behavior, Health and Aging, 2, 133–148.Google Scholar
Kunzmann, U., Little, T.D., & Smith, J. (2000). Is age-related stability of subjective well-being a paradox? Cross-sectional and longitudinal evidence from the Berlin Aging Study. Psychology and Aging, 15, 511–526CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Livingston, G., Watkin, V., Milne, B., Manela, M.V., & Katona, C. (2000). Who becomes depressed? The Islington Community Study of Older People. Journal of Affective Disorders, 58, 125–133.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lobo, A., Ventura, T., & Marco, C. (1990). Psychiatric morbidity among residents in a home for the elderly in Spain: Prevalence of disorder and validity of screening. International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 5, 83–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirotznik, J., & Kamp, L.L. (2000). Cognitive status and relocation stress: A test of the vulnerability hypothesis. The Gerontologist, 40, 531–539.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mirotznik, J., & Lombardi, T.G. (1995). The impact of intrainstitutional relocation on morbidity in an acute care setting. The Gerontologist, 35, 217–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newmann, J.P., Engel, R.J., & Jensen, J. (1990). Depressive symptom patterns among older women. Psychology and Aging, 5, 101–118.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newmann, J.P., Engel, R.J., & Jensen, J. (1991a). Age differences in depressive symptom experiences. Journal of Gerontology, 46, 224–235.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newmann, J.P., Engel, R.J., & Jensen, J. (1991b). Changes in depressive-symptom experiences among older women. Psychology and Aging, 6, 212–222.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Newmann, J.P., Klein, M.H., Jensen, J.E., & Essex, M.J. (1996). Depressive symptom experiences among older women: A comparison of alternative measurement approaches. Psychology and Aging, 11, 112–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Norris, M.P. & Woehr, M.D. (1998). Differentiating somatic symptoms in the elderly: Depression, aging, or illness? Journal of Mental Health and Aging, 4, 347–359.Google Scholar
Pfeiffer, E. (1975). A short portable mental status questionnaire for the assessment of organic brain deficit in elderly patients. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 23, 433–441.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rodríguez-Testal, J.F. (1999). El estado afectivo de las personas mayores de 60 años institucionalizadas de la provincia de Sevilla: la influencia del motivo de ingreso en la residencia. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Seville, Spain.Google Scholar
Rodríguez-Testal, J.F., & Valdés Díaz, M. (in press). Propiedades psicométricas de la escala geriátrica de depresión (GDS): análisis procedente de cuatro investigaciones. Revista Española de Geriatría y Gerontología.Google Scholar
Royall, D.R., Mahurin, R.K., & Gray, K.F. (1992). Bedside assessment of executive cognitive impairment: The Executive Interview. Journal of the American Geriatric Society, 40, 1221–1226.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schoevers, R.A., Beekman, A.T.F., Deeg, D.J.H., Geerlings, M.I., Jonker, C., & Van Tilburg, W. (2000). Risk factors for depression in later life. Results of a prospective community-based study (AMSTEL). Journal of Affective Disorders, 59, 127–137.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schonfeld, W.H., Verboncoeur, C.J., Fifer, S.K., Lipschutz, R.C., Lubeck, D.P., & Buesching, D.P. (1997). The functioning and well-being of patients with unrecognized anxiety disorders and major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 43, 105–119.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Schulz, R., & Heckhausen, J. (1997). Emotion and control: A lifespan perspective. Annual Review of Gerontology and Geriatrics, 17, 185–205.Google Scholar
Tryon, W.W. (1982). A simplified time-series analysis for evaluating treatment interventions. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 15, 423–429.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tryon, W.W. (1984). A simplified time-series analysis for evaluating treatment interventions: A rejoinder to Blumberg. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 17, 543–544.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van den Berg, M.D., Oldehinkel, A.J., Bouhuys, A.L., Brilman, E.I., Beekman, A.T.F., & Ormel, J. (2001). Depression in later life: Three etiologically different subgroups. Journal of Affective Disorders, 65, 19–26.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Zung, W.W. (1965). A self-rating depression scale. Archives of General Psychiatry, 12, 63–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed