The assessment of depression among older adults is difficult because depression rating scales can contain items that are related to cognitive deficits, physical illnesses, and other normal age changes. This study attempted to identify those items on the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory - Revised (MMPI-2) depression scale which strongly correlated with age as a basis for dividing the depression scale into two subscales: one measuring aging and the other measuring depression. These subscales were then evaluated by comparing two groups of older adults, one depressed and the other healthy, to determine if there would be no difference on the aging.subscale and a significant difference on the depression subscale.This research was conducted in two stages. The first stage entailed giving the extracted MMPI-2 depression scale (MMPI-2 D) to healthy older adults (n=114, aged 60 and above) and to healthy younger college students (n=142, aged 18 to 29) in order to assess which of the 57 MMPI-2 depression items were correlated with age.Using a cutoff score of 20% endorsement difference (Butcher & Pancheri, 1976) between the two groups (p<.001), it was determined that fifteen items of the MMPI-2 D scale differentiated the healthy older adult and the healthy younger adult groups and were therefore related to aging and not depression. Twelve of these items were in the depressive direction for older adults. Those items which strongly correlated with age were used to create an aging subscale of the MMPI-2 depression scale (MMPI-2 Da). The remaining items were assumed to measure depression and were considered a depression subscale (MMPI-2 Dd).The second stage of this research addressed the utility of the subscales. It was hypothesized that the MMPI-2 Da (aging subscale) would not discriminate between depressed and healthy older adults since both groups were the same with respect to age. It was further hypothesized that the MMPI-2 Dd (depression subscale) would discriminate between these groups because the groups were different with respect to depression.When the two subscales were used with a new healthy older adult group (n=54) and a depressed older adult group (n=36), both hypotheses were supported. There was no significant difference between the healthy and depressed older adults on the aging subscale (MMPI-2 Da) and there was a significant difference on the depression subscale (MMPI-2 Dd). Implications and limitations of these findings were discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/179792 |
| Date | January 1993 |
| Creators | Priest, Wayne L. |
| Contributors | Duckworth, Jane C. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | vi, 83 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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