THE INFLUENCE OF DEPRESSION ON MEMORY AND METAMEMORY IN THE ELDERLY

This study aimed to assess the relationships among depression level, m emory and metamemory scores on a large sample of elderly subjects (139 men and 147 women). Preliminary examination showed that none of the s ampled subjects had intellectual impairment (as assessed by means of t he Mini-Mental State Examination) or neuropsychiatric symptoms. Each s ubject was administered the Randt Memory Test (RMT), the Sehulster Mem ory Scale (SMS) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A Multivaria te Analysis of Covariance revealed a negative influence of depression on the two RMT measures (Acquisition-Recall: AR; Delayed Memory: DM) a nd on the three SMS measures (Set1: self-comparison; Set2: memory comp laints; Set3: peer comparison), and of age on AR and DM, and Set1 and Set2. A Multivariate Regression Analysis showed that DM scores were po sitively correlated with Set2 in men and women, and with Set1 in women and Set3 in men, whereas AR scores related to Set2 and Set3 in men an d Set1 in women. In addition, depression influenced negatively Set1, S et2 and AR scores in both men and women and DM scores only in men. On the whole, the results suggest that depression, memory and metamemory are rather closely related in non-severely depressed older individuals , albeit with slightly different patterns in men and women, and that s ome areas of metamemory are congruent with objective functioning regar dless of the level of depressive symptoms.