Psychological treatment of depression in the elderly has recently benefited from the development of the cognitive approach. In particular, cognitive psychotherapy seems well adapted to and accepted by older people. In this article, we attempt to show the course of this type of psychotherapy in the case of a 79 year-old depressive woman in our Cognitive Therapy Unit for Elderly. We emphasize the therapeutical setting and the content of the sessions, the techniques used, the changes that occurred, and finally, the therapeutic alliance is described. Although some negative views about psychotherapy with older people are not totally abandoned, this vignette is a good illustration of the benefits for the patient and the highly enriching work for the therapist.

Given the lack of research in clinically depressed elders, and drawing on an integrative perspective, this study examined predictions of three prominent psychological models of depression (cognitive, learned helplessness, and psychodynamic theory) in a sample of elderly depressed patients. The hypothesized specificity to depression and stability of representative psychological characteristics were evaluated by comparing levels of 25 clinically depressed elders, 20 nondepressed psychiatric controls and 28 nondepressed medical controls, at hospitalization (Tl), discharge (T2) and five months later (T3). Also, the relative contribution of theory-based variables to depression severity at discharge and at follow-up was explored. While elderly depressed patients showed, overall, significantly higher levels of maladaptive cognitions, biased attributions, and selected depressogenic personality traits than medical controls, these variables did not discriminate among depressives and psychiatric controls, with the exception of negative automatic thinking, and pessimistic attributions in females. Positive attributional style and hedonism did not discriminate among subject groups. Support was found for the stability, in the depressed group, of purportedly traitlike characteristics through hospitalization to follow-up. Multiple regression analyses indicated that initial symptomatology level was the strongest predictor of both discharge and follow-up depression severity, whereas selected variables from each theoretical model contributed marginally, depending on the time of assessment.

Data from the 1990 Canadian General Social Survey on Friends and Family were used to examine the relationship between ethnicity and patterns and characteristics of friendship in later life. Ethnicity (i.e. British, French, European – the most prevalent ethnic groups amongst Canadian seniors – and a “Multi-Ethnic” category) is examined in relation to the number of friends reported, satisfaction with friendships, and the geographic proximity to and frequency of contact with the closest identified friend, with attention also given to the factors of age, gender, and marital status. Although results indicate differences for both gender and marital status, ethnicity emerged as the most consistent predictor. Specifically, the French have fewer friends, they live closer to them and are in more frequent contact. The British live further from their friends, who are more numerous. The British and the French did not differ from each other in terms of satisfaction with friendship. The European and the Multi-Ethnic groups were similar across the comparisons made. These results are interpreted in the context of social support access and underscore the importance of including ethnicity in studies of aging and social relations.

This paper examines, first of all, the levels of satisfaction of wives with the care of their institutionalized elderly husbands and changes in satisfaction over the nine months following the husband's admission to a long-term care facility. Secondly, the paper examines the relationships between satisfaction with care and: (a) the husband's care requirements prior to admission, and (b) wives' physical and psychosocial health following admission. Data are taken from a longitudinal study of wives' responses to the institutionalization of elderly husbands. The subsample in this paper consists of 46 wives who remained in the study nine months after the husband's admission. Wives reported fairly high levels of satisfaction. Changes did not occur over time in overall satisfaction, satisfaction with the arrangements for husband's care, or satisfaction with time for information. A significant decline over time was found, however, with respect to satisfaction with the facility. Pre-admission factors (husbands' need for assistance and wives' perceived burden) showed little relationship to wives' subsequent satisfaction with care. As well, wives' physical health was unrelated to satisfaction. In contrast, wives with better psychosocial health (as indicated by morale, affect, depressive symptoms and social interaction) tended to be more satisfied with care.

In contrast to the negative images which attend old women in many social and statistical reports, literary gerontology provides a framework which allows us to see old women as complex and integrated figures. Canadian literature offers numerous examples of powerful old women who defy reductive stereotypes. Literary grandmothers, particularly when they appear in pairs, force a recognition of the integrating and mediating powers of old women. This paper discusses four Canadian novels in which pairs of grandmothers can be seen to supply a structural matrix which orders and supports the growth and development of future generations. Through the old women in these novels we may recognize the tradition of the mythic Great Mother in whose image we recognize the full power of our witches, wise women and ordinary old grandmothers.

A comparative analysis of injury mortality in 24 developed countries during the period 1985–1989 shows the importance of this cause of death among the elderly. One out of four men and one out of two women who dies from injury is aged 65 and over. There is an over-representation of the elderly among injury-related deaths and the risk of death is still increasing after age 65. Some differences can be noted for the elderly as compared to other age groups: a lower male excess mortality ratio and a much larger proportion of violent deaths related to accidental falls. Among developed countries, a wide scope of variations exists in age groups and cause-specific patterns. Hierarchical clustering is used to obtain different aggregations of countries, based on the level, the structure and the causes of violent mortality. Although the classification of countries varies according to a chosen criteria, we often find aggregations of countries belonging to the geographical area.

The health promotion literature for young adults is not generalizable to the elderly, and different outcomes are likely to motivate changes in health practices within the two populations. Main and interactive effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and physical activity on older Canadians' quality of life are examined with 1991 GSS data. Quality of life is operationalized with psychological well-being and subjective health indicators. Two dichotomous outcomes are used for each dimension, where one outcome is relatively sensitive in detecting impaired quality of life and the other relatively specific. Smoking was consistently associated with negative outcomes, but there was little evidence of adverse effects for alcohol consumption. Physical activity effects were most pronounced comparing sedentary and moderately active individuals. Body mass index showed curvilinear associations with impaired quality of life and interactions with smoking and activity level in separate models.

A large body of evidence has demonstrated that normal human fibroblasts have a limited division potential in culture and underwent senescence, a process whereby cells became arrested in the G1 phase of the cell cycle and overexpressed a DNA synthesis inhibitor(s). Cyclin-dependent kinase two (Cdk2) is required for the promotion of the Gi-to-S phase transition in human cells. Senescent fibroblasts contain intact cyclin-Cdk2 complexes but cannot induce Cdk2 protein kinase activity in response to mitogen stimulation. Recently, we cloned p21Sdi1, a potent inhibitor of DNA synthesis and Cdk2 kinase activity, from a senescent cell cDNA library and demonstrated that it was expressed at significantly higher levels in senescent cells than actively proliferating cells. In contrast to actively dividing cells, mitogen-stimulated senescent cells do not down-regulate the expression of p21Sdi1 and do not express late G1 phase gene products that are required for entry into S phase. We suggest that the inability of mitogen-stimulated senescent cells to down-regulate p21Sdi1 levels contributes to the resulting lack of late Gi gene expression and failure to traverse the G1/S phase boundary.

This work pertaining to gerontological psychology was intended as a reference book for French-speaking students and researchers working in the field of gerontology. The authors present gerontology under various themes, such as socio-demography, physical changes, sexuality, intelligence and memory, personality, psychological well-being, life transitions, loneliness, depression, suicide and organic brain pathologies. All the themes are structured identically. The authors very carefully define and delimit the subject, and then discuss it in terms of the aging process in its psychosocial context. The main themes are very well chosen. Furthermore, the authors took great care in treating the issue from various angles, namely from a physical, cognitive, psychic and social perspective. The clarity and lightness of the text make it a good introduction which will be greatly appreciated by its readers.

This is the third edition of a book published at the beginning of the 80s. According to Mishara and his colleagues, as many studies in gerontology have been undertaken in the last decade as the previous 50 years. In order to update the last edition, the authors kept the same format as in the other editions. Leaving aside more recent studies showing the same conclusions as in the earlier editions, the authors instead added studies which present new elements or which possibly may invalidate or confirm ambiguous results from the past. The themes discussed are practically the same as in the previous edition. A new chapter was added on the use of medicines and drugs by the elderly. The chapters pertaining to death and grief are of particular interest. This book, although academic, has a flowing style and is a great added value to a library if the reader does not have any of the previous editions.