[Study on the correlation between depression and emotion regulation strategies in the elderly residents]

Objective: To explore the cross-sectional study of depressive and emotional regulation strategies of elderly residents in Yinchuan and their relationship. Methods: A total number of 1 043 elderly cases, including 505 from 5 nursing institutions and 538 from 5 communities in Yinchuan city were chosen, from March to May, 2016. Depression survey using the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS), emotional adjustment strategies were conducted using the Gross Emotional Regulatory Questionnaire and the Rumination Scale. Results: The overall incidence rate of depression among the elderly residents appeared as 32.0%, with 35.5% in the communities and 28.3% in the nursing homes and the difference was statistically significant (χ(2)=6.187, P<0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of depression among the elderly and the aged in the community (χ(2)=0.066, P=0.798) by the trend analysis method. The score of GDS for the 1 043 elderly was (9.1±5.7) points. The scores on cognitive reappraisal in emotional adjustment strategies and on expression inhibition were (26.7±8.0) and (16.3±6.6) points respectively. The score of the rumination was (34.5±11.7) points. There were significant differences in cognitive reappraisal scores on different sex, hobbies and physical exercise (all Ps<0.05) among the elderly. There were significant differences in rumination scores among the elderly with different age, marital status, cultural level, interest (all Ps<0.05) and in the scores of expression inhibition among the elderly with different levels of education and income (all Ps<0.05). There appeared a negative correlation between the depression scores and cognitive reappraisal (r=-0.400, P<0.01) but a positive correlation between the scores of depression and rumination (r=0.652, P<0.01). Conclusion: The incidence of depression identified in the elderly residents appeared high and was associated with emotional adjustment strategies, in Yinchuan city.