PSYCHIC AND SOMATIC SYMPTOMS OF DEPRESSION AMONG YOUNG-ADULTS, INSTITUTIONALIZED AGED AND NON-INSTITUTIONALIZED AGED

Beck Depression Inventory scores were obtained from 48 elderly who had been residing in homes for the aged for more than one year, 31 elderly residing in the community and waiting to enter an old-age home, and 424 young adults enrolled in a first-year psychology course. The residents of old-age homes reported no more symptoms of depression than the waiting-list controls, a finding that provides no support for the hypothesis that the institutional nature of old-age homes increase depression in the elderly. Both the institutionalized and noninstitutionalized aged reported more somatic symptoms of depression than the young adults, but no greater cognitive or affective symptoms of depression. These results were interpreted as providing no support for the widely held belief that the aged are more depressed than any other age group. Finally, it was argued that somatic complaints can be valid indicators of depression in the elderly if normative differences between young and old are taken into account.