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Parasuicidal behaviour and interpersonal problem solving performance in older adults.
1Department of Psychological Medicine, Gartnavel Royal Hospital, Glasgow, UK.
The British Journal of Clinical Psychology
|November 20, 2002
Summary
Older adults who attempt suicide show poorer interpersonal problem-solving skills compared to community controls, even when depression is considered. This suggests a specific deficit in coping strategies for older adults.
Area of Science:
- Gerontology
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
Background:
- Older adults who engage in parasuicide exhibit unique challenges.
- Understanding deficits in interpersonal problem-solving is crucial for this demographic.
- Depression is a common comorbidity but may not fully explain parasuicidal behavior.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate interpersonal problem-solving performance in older adults who recently attempted suicide.
- To compare this performance against older adults with depression and healthy community controls.
Main Methods:
- A cross-sectional study design was employed.
- A modified Means-End Problem-Solving (MEPS) procedure was used for older adults.
- Participants included older adults with recent parasuicide, depression, and community controls.
Main Results:
- Older adults who attempted suicide demonstrated poorer ability to generate relevant solutions to interpersonal problems compared to community controls, even after controlling for depression levels.
- No significant differences were found between the parasuicidal and depressed groups regarding solution relevance.
- Other MEPS outcome variables did not show significant group differences.
Conclusions:
- Deficits in interpersonal problem-solving are linked to parasuicide in older adults, independent of depression.
- Further research using process measures is recommended to understand these problem-solving difficulties.
- The modified MEPS is a viable and well-tolerated assessment tool for older adults.