Irrational beliefs and coping styles in elderly patients with depression

Objective: To investigate the characteristics of irrational beliefs and styles in elderly patients with depression.Methods: Totally 63 elderly patients meeting the International Classification of Diseases,Tenth Revision(ICD-10) diagnostic criteria for depression were included as the case group,and 30 age-and gender-matched normal elderly people as the controls.The case group and control group were assessed with the Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS),Irrational Beliefs Scale(IBS),and Simple Coping Style Questionnaire(SCSQ) before treatment,and after 6 weeks of treatment,the case group was re-evaluated.Results: Before treatment,the scores of IBS subscales and SCSQ coping were all higher in case group than in control group;after treatment,the scores all decreased but still higher than that in the controls(Ps0.001).Before treatment,the SCSQ active coping scores were lower in case group than in control group;after treatment,the scores increased but still lower than that in the controls(Ps0.001).Compared to control group,the patients with GDS scores10 after treatment scored higher in the IBS subscales(Ps0.05),lower in SCSQ active coping(P0.001),and had no difference in SCSQ coping scores(P0.05).Before treatment,the GDS score of case group was positively correlated with scores of IBS low frustration tolerance and generalization comment(r=0.59,r=0.17;P0.001),and negatively correlated with the scores of SCSQ active coping(r=-0.39,P0.05).Conclusion: It suggests that elderly patients with depression have irrational beliefs and negative style,and they need psychological intervention to promote rehabilitation and reduce the recurrence of depression.