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Les Strategies D'Adaptation des Personnes Agees aux Prises avec des Sentiments Depressifs

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 November 2010

Philippe Cappeliez  and
Diane Blanchet
Philippe Cappeliez
Affiliation:
Université d'Ottawa
Diane Blanchet
Affiliation:
Université d'Ottawa
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Abstract

As an initial step in the improvement of interventions for the depressed elderly, the present study attempts to identify the strategies they spontaneously use to cope with depressive feelings. Fifty two older persons answered two questionnaires, one measuring the intensity of depressive symptomatology, the other dealing with coping strategies and their usefulness. Results suggest that, as a whole, coping strategies used by the elderly do not fundamentally differ from the ones advocated by younger individuals, in that they favor strategies involving goal-oriented action. The subjects who reported the most depressive feelings differed from the others on two points: they less frequently relied on the strategy of problem solving and they considered general activity as less useful in their struggle against depressive feelings. Implications for the development of services for the elderly, in particular the secondary prevention of depression, are drawn.

Résumé

Comme point de départ pour l'amélioration des interventions auprès des personnes âgées déprimées, la présente étude cherche à identifier les stratégies d'adaptation auxquelles elles recourent spontanément pour lutter contre les sentiments dépressifs. Cinquante deux personnes âgées ont répondu à deux questionnaires, l'un portant sur l'intensité de la symptomatologie dépressive, l'autre sur les stratégies d'adaptation et leur utilité. Les résultats suggèrent que, dans l'ensemble, les stratégies d'adaptation des personnes âgées s'apparentent à celles relevées auprès des échantillons plus jeunes, en privilégiant les stratégies d'action concertée. Les personnes ágées présentant le plus de sentiments dépressifs se distinguent des autres sur deux points: elles ont moins recours à la stratégie de résolution de problèmes et elles considèrent l'activité générale comme moins utile. Les implications pour l'institution de services aux personnes âgées, en particulier la prévention secondaire des dépressions, sont évoquées.

Keywords

agedepressioninterventioncoping
Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement , Volume 5 , Issue 2 , Summer/L'été 1986 , pp. 125 - 134
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Association on Gerontology 1986

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