Assessment of Geriatric Depression: Construction of a New Screening Inventory

<p>Geriatric depression is strongly associated with increased healthcare costs, poor treatment outcomes, and mortality. Existing measures of depression in this population do not adequately account for more recent literature describing the presentation of depressed older adults, and thus may result in the underdiagnosis of depression in this population. The current study consistent of the development of a new, updated measure and examined its psychometric properties and potential clinical utility for diagnosing depression in adults over the age of 65. Participants were be recruited from multiple sources, including a community population from residential retirement communities, as well as inpatients and outpatients from two medical centers. All participants completed the 26-item Thorndyke Geriatric Depression Inventory (TGDI) and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). A subset of participant completed the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE). Factor analysis was used to identify a factor structure in the TGDI data, facilitated deletion of low quality items from the measure, and suggested that TGDI items represented a single factor of depression. Scores on the TGDI were then correlated with MMSE and GDS scores to establish convergent and divergent validity. A finalized version of the TGDI was developed for further research and validation.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Psychology

Year

2015

Author dc:creator

• Thorndyke, Earl C., III

Contributors dc:contributor

• Boyd, Kendal C.
• Lee, Grace J.
• Morrell, Holly E. R.
• Nitch, Stephen R.

• Clinical Psychology
• Psychology
• Social and Behavioral Sciences
• Depression in old age; Depression -- Diagnosis -- Aged; Geriatric Assessment; Personality Inventory -- Aged; Geriatric Psychiatry; Psychometrics
• Geriatric depression
• Measures of Depression
• Geriatric Depression Scale
• Mini Mental State Examination
• Thorndyke Geriatric Depression Inventory

Statement dc:rights

• This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/265

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:scholarsrepository.llu.edu:etd-1256