Leader: Gianluca Castelnuovo (Unicatt); Other collaborator(s):
This task aims to develop an innovative and comprehensive model of psychopathology in the specific older population to improve knowledge about the potential predictors of quality of life and the specific therapeutic treatments-protocols. Taking into account a bio-psycho-social perspective, this task will develop a detection system for early warning signals in psychopathology improving the differential diagnosis with medical or neurocognitive complications, enhancing preventions strategies in senior citizens’ everyday life. Actions to mitigate psychopathological conditions will be performed at individual, couple, familiar and societal levels, including strategies from health psychology.
Brief description of the activities and of the intermediate results
One research protocol has been submitted to the Catholic University Ethics Committee and we are awaiting for the approval. The administrative procedure for a short-term research position has been requested and started. The call for a short-term researcher is on-going
Main policy, industrial and scientific implications
Potential Policy Implications
Potential Industry Implications
Potential Practice Implications
Starting from the data collected from a sample of more than 2000 participants, it was necessary to eliminate from the database all those subjects who showed a time to complete the Survey of less than 12 minutes, as it was hardly representative of an accurate compilation. Similarly, subjects who, took more than 200 minutes to complete the Survey were also eliminated, for a total of 101 eliminated cases. The resulting sample is thus made up of a total of 1907 useful cases.
With regard to the presence of depressive symptoms in the sample considered, measured through the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), descriptive analyses were conducted relating to the distribution of such symptoms that identified some significant differences based on sociodemographic variables:
- Gender: a significant difference emerged in the total scores obtained on the GDS between males and females, with the latter reporting significantly higher depressive symptoms. This result appears to be in line with the existing literature on this topic.
- Geographical area of residence: participants residing in the Southern regions and the Islands show significantly higher scores on the GDS than those living in the North-East and North-West of Italy. This data suggests possible differences related to environmental, socioeconomic or cultural factors, which would deserve further investigation.
- Level of education: the analyses carried out did not highlight a significant effect of education on GDS scores, suggesting that the level of education does not represent a discriminating factor with respect to depressive symptoms in the sample examined.
- Marital status: single individuals show significantly higher depressive symptoms than those who are married or cohabiting. Cohabiting participants report significantly lower scores than those who are separated/divorced or widowed, but not than those who are married. Finally, those who are married show significantly lower scores than those who are widowed, suggesting a possible protective role of the marital relationship in old age.
- Employment: the only significant difference found concerns self-employed workers, who have lower GDS scores than househusbands. This data could reflect greater social and work activation as a protective factor against the development of depressive symptoms.
- Age: a significant positive correlation emerged between age and the score obtained on the GDS, indicating that with advancing age there is an increase in depressive symptoms.
In order to complete correlational and regression analyses aimed at exploring the relationship between depressive symptoms and other psychological constructs investigated with the Survey, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were also conducted on the different constructs. This will allow us to proceed with further investigations aimed at investigating the possible relationships between the presence/severity of depressive symptoms and the level of psychological well-being, individual resources, cognitive strategies implemented, the level of physical activity, self-sufficiency in daily life, the use of technology and the available environmental and social resources.
Coming soon