Comparing Mentalizing Abilities in Older Adults with and without Common Mental Disorders

Area of Science:

• Geriatric psychiatry
• Clinical psychology
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Mentalization is crucial in psychotherapy, especially for older adults.
• Older individuals may have deficits in theory of mind (ToM), affect perception, and metacognitive skills.
• Limited research exists on mentalization in older adults with mental disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the mentalizing abilities of older patients experiencing depressive and anxious symptoms.
• To compare mentalization in clinical and non-clinical older adult samples.
• To explore the relationship between mentalization and health-related aspects in older adults.

Main Methods:

• Assessed mentalization using the Mentalization Questionnaire (MZQ) and Reading-the-Mind-in-the-eyes-test (ToM).
• Evaluated executive functions with the Trail-Making Test and overall health with HEALTH-49.
• Compared clinical (n=150) and non-clinical (n=150) samples across age groups (40-54, 55-69, ≥70) using statistical analyses.

Main Results:

• Clinical samples consistently showed poorer mentalizing skills across all age groups compared to non-clinical samples.
• Significant correlations were observed between mentalization and health-related aspects.
• Regression analysis indicated that only the clinical vs. non-clinical setting influenced MZQ scores; age, gender, education, executive functions, and ToM did not significantly influence MZQ scores.
• Age did not correlate with MZQ scores but negatively correlated with ToM.

Conclusions:

• Mentalization is vital for understanding mental disorders in older adults.
• Evidence suggests an imbalance in self- and other-related mentalizing abilities.
• Therapeutic interventions could focus on rebalancing these mentalizing aspects for improved outcomes.