RELATION BETWEEN CERTAIN CHARACTERISTICS OF ELDERLY SUBJECTS AND RESPONSE TO COGNITIVE THERAPY FOR DEPRESSION

Available research supports the therapeutic usefulness of cognitive th erapy for depressed older adults. Few studies have addressed the issue of response prediction. This research investigates the associations b etween several pre-intervention characteristics of subjects and therap y outcomes in the context of a group intervention. The characteristics under study were severity of depressive symptomatology, endogenous de pression profile, subjective health status, perceived social support, and frequency of cognitive depressive symptoms representing a negative view of oneself. A more severe depressive symptomatology and a more n egative health perception were associated with a less favourable outco me of therapy Although the majority of endogenous patients benefitted from the intervention, only a minority reached the level of symptom re mission at the end of treatment. A more pronounced cluster of symptoms characterized by negative thoughts about oneself tended to be associa ted with a worse outcome. Perceived social support was unrelated to th erapy outcome.