Mental Health In Late Adulthood Research

Alexus Grace
Developmental Phycology
Infancy research
8/28/15

Mental Health in Late Adulthood: What Can
Preserve It?
Abstract: The current research investigates the part played by several sociodemographic
factors, lifestyle and cognitive efficiency in predicting self-rated depressive
signs in late adulthood. One hundred and ninety-one healthy adults were recruited
in Northern Italy and Sardinia—an Italian island located in the Mediterranean sea
known for the longevity of its elderly people—from urban and rural areas. Participants
were assigned to old (60–74 years) and very old (75–99 years) groups, and were
administered cognitive efficiency and self-referent depression measures. Gender and
region of residence were the best predictors of self-rated

depression scores.
Furthermore, Sardinian participants, especially those from rural areas, showed better
preserved mental health than respondents from Northern Italy. Positive aging is more
evident in Sardinia, especially in rural areas, where the maintenance of an adequate
social status and physical activity help guarantee a positive level of mental health in
later life.

References
Fastame, M.

C., Penna, M. P., & Hitchcott, P. K. (2014). Mental health in late adulthood: What can preserve it?. Applied Research In Quality Of Life, doi:10.1007/s11482-014-9323-5

In the article “Mental Health in Late Adulthood: What Can Preserve It?” the researchers argue that self-rated depressive symptoms have a negative impact on psychological well-being. Using the hypothesis “the maintenance of adequate social status and physical activity help in guarantying a positive level of mental health in late adulthood,” the researchers prove just how much of an impact depressive symptoms have on psychological well-being.
In order to prove this hypothesis, past research as well as a new study was used.
The following method involved getting volunteers that met the criteria as being a healthy adult who live in a private household. There were 191 volunteers for the study. The researchers assigned volunteers to one of to two groups; one contained adults aged

between
60 and 74 years (Old Group) and the second group contained adults between 75 and 99 years (Very Old Group). The respondents were recruited from Sardinia and Lombardy because an emerging body of evidence shows a higher prevalence of centenarians in the Mediterranean isle and a greater level of psychological well-being, especially in Ogliastra, compared to Lombardy (Fastame and Penna 2012; Fastame et al. 2014). Volunteers had to have met the following additional criteria to participate in the study; be native-born, permanent residents of the
city of Sassari or of the villages of Barbagia, Ogliastra or Lombardy. had to be descendants of people originally from those areas for at least two generations, and had to show no signs of cognitive decline as assessed by the Mini- Mental State Examination.
Education level and gender were counterbalanced across both sets of volunteers.

Each participant had to complete the following; (1) a preliminary interview used to collect information on socio-demographic characteristics and lifestyle. (2) The Mini-Mental State Examination which is composed of 30 items which are used to assess general cognitive efficiency in regards to spatial-temporal orientation, visual–motor integration, short and long-term memory, attention and mental calculation. (3) The vocabulary subtest of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence which measures semantic memory. And lastly, (4) The Centre for Epidemiological Studies of Depression Scale which measure depressive symptoms experienced during the past

week.
The results showed that age group and residence were significant variables. Tukey’s post hoc comparisons did not reveal any differences between elders from Ogliastra elders that were from Barbagia. Participants from Lombardy were found to exhibit the most signs of depression. The interaction between residence and hobbies was not significant but, those involved in leisurely activites were found to be significantly less depressed. Gender was significant as it found that females are more likely to be depressed than males.
In my opinion, the researchers did exactly what they said they were going to do which was to examine various variables in regards to socio-demographic and environmental factors, and lifestyle and cognitive efficiency measures in or to try and predict depressive signs in old and very old adults. Even going beyond the hypothesis, the researchers wanted to study the effects of gender as well as environmental and age-related factors in regards to depression in the Italian population. The researchers not only confirmed previous findings but also opened up a new door for future research in regards to depressive symptoms across other socio-culture contexts