Racial differences in self-assessed health problems, depressive cognitions, and learned resourcefulness

The purpose of this study was to investigate differences in self-assessed health problems, depressive cognitions, and learned resourcefulness in functionally independent older adults, including 30 Black and 30 White elders age 65 and over. Data were collected during structured face-to-face interviews. The two groups were similar in age, gender, education, and income. Results revealed that White elders reported more physical health problems than Blacks, but the types of problems were similar. While White elders reported more depressive cognitions, Black elders were significantly more resourceful. Most importantly, a strong association between depressive cognitions and learned resourcefulness was found for both Black and White elders. Findings highlight the importance of developing strategies to teach or reinforce learned resourcefulness in Black and White elders in order to prevent depression and promote mental health. This study recommends further investigation of racial differences in cognitive-behavior strategies constituting learned resourcefulness, using larger and randomly selected samples.