[Mental illness in elderly patients - Empirical results on the theory of secondary structural deficits]

Mental illness in elderly patients - Empirical results on the theory of secondary structural deficits Objectives: The theory of secondary structural deficits, which attributes structural deficits to age-related changes, is introduced. The following study aims at testing some elements of the theory (changes of theory of mind, ability to mentalize). Methods: Patients (N = 150, age 40-80 years) of a psychosomatic hospital participated in the study. Structural deficits were measured using the Reading-Mind-in-the-Eyes-Test (Baron-Cohen et al. 2001) and the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ, Hausberg et al. 2012). Influences of age as well as physical disease, trauma related stress and anxiety/depression on those structural deficits were examined. Results: Trauma related stress and physical disease (especially vascular disease) were shown to have the most associations to the structural dimensions. This influence increases with increasing age. Conclusions: The results confirm the assumptions of the presented theory in selected variables. Conclusions for modifications in geriatric psychotherapy can be derived.