Treatment of depression in late life: psychotherapeutic interventions

Depression affects only a minority of older adults, but is a costly illness in terms of suffering, excess medical disability, increased use of health services, and mortality. Both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic interventions are effective for treating depression in late life. This paper reviews the background and empirical support for the efficacy of various psychotherapies for treating late life depression, including cognitive-behavioral, interpersonal, psychodynamic, life review, group, and family interventions. To date, cognitive-behavioral and interpersonal psychotherapies have most empirical support yet most studies have been conducted with relatively young, healthy, and White elderly. Studies of the efficacy of psychotherapeutic interventions for treating depression in minority and frail elderly are needed, as well as further studies of combination treatments across a range of care settings.