Depression in the elderly: a comparison study of recently bereaved and nonbereaved samples

The results of previous research dealing with bereavement and /or depression in the elderly give conflicting and ambiguous reports. The purpose of this study was to attempt to clarify some of this confusion. Depression is a normal part of grieving. Many investigators suggest that depression is also a normal part of aging. This investigator described and compared the severity of depression between a sample of elderly person (N=62) who recently experience conjugal loss and a matched group a still-married older person (N=59). The two samples were utilized in order to describe the extent of depression as an outcome of grief, as well as the degree of which depression may exist among those elderly who have a spouse. Data were taken from a larger project on bereavement and adaptation in the elderly. Data from the bereaved sample were obtained three to four weeks post-conjugal loss. The Zung subscales were analyzed for highest levels of depression. Selected demographic variables were examined for their effect on bereavement and depression. While the bereaved shoed higher levels of depression, neither group manifested clinical levels of depression. Using a Tau C measure of association, a statistically significant relationship was found between bereavement and depression for nearly every variable and every subscale. These preliminary findings led to speculation regarding those elderly at higher risk when conjugal loss occurred. Implications for nursing were discussed.