Clinical trial NCT01553669: Reminiscence Therapy on Depression, Self Esteem, Life Satisfaction, and Loneliness of the Elderly
Official title: The Effects of Reminiscence Therapy on Depression, Self Esteem, Life Satisfaction, and Loneliness of the Elderly in China
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: UNKNOWN
Phase: PHASE2
Conditions: Depression
Lead sponsor: Chinese Academy of Sciences
Sponsor class: OTHER_GOV
First posted: 2012-03-14
Enrollment: 60
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 60
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The primary hypothesis is, comparing with the control group, reminiscence therapy is significantly and clinically effective to improve the experiment group's depressive symptoms after six weeks therapy, and the efficacy can be maintained on the three months follow-up.

The secondary hypothesis is, comparing with the control group, reminiscence therapy significantly reduce the loneliness and increase the self-esteem and life satisfaction of the experiment group.

Detailed description: The subjects who are arranged to the experiment group will be intervened using the reminiscence therapy manual proposed by Watt and Cappeliez (2000). According to the manual, the group consisted of six weekly sessions of 90 min each. During each weekly session, the memories recalled focused on a different theme.

Data collection will occur on screening (as for baseline or pre-test), after intervention immediately (as for post-test), and three months after the intervention (as for follow-up). And outcome measures use standardized instruments with demonstrated validity and reliability:

Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) Rosenberg self-esteem scale (SES) Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A) Russell's UCLA Loneliness Scale

Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

1. 60 years of age and older;
2. A score above 10 and lower than 26 on the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS);
3. A score of 24 or higher on the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE);
4. Not taking anti-depressant medication or taking part in other psychotherapy when enrolling, if taking anti-depressant medication, must be stabilized on that medication for at least three months;
5. Having no problem with communication (such as, can speak fluent mandarin, or if he/she speaks a dialect, his/her dialect can be understood by most of people).

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Suicide attempt;
2. A diagnosis of cognitive impairment by DSM-Ⅳ, or mental disorders other than depression;
3. Alcohol or drug abuse;
4. Cannot grantee attending the therapy at a weekly base due to physical impairment, lack of time or unwilling etc.

Primary outcomes:
measure: Change in depression using the Geriatric Depression Scale(GDS)
timeFrame: the 6th and 18th week
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Change in self esteem using the Self-Esteem Scale (SES)
timeFrame: the 6th and 18th week
measure: Change in life satisfaction using the Life Satisfaction Index A (LSI-A)
timeFrame: the 6th and 18th week
measure: Change in loneliness using Russell's UCLA Loneliness Scale
timeFrame: the 6th and 18th week
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Beijing
country: China
facility: Chinese Academy of Sciences, Institute of Psychology, Center on Ageing Psychology, Key Lab of Mental Health
state: Beijing
Study officials:
affiliation: Chinese Acad Sci, Inst Psychol, Ctr Ageing Psychol, Key Lab Mental Hlth
name: Juan Li, PhD
role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR
References:
citation: Chen TJ, Li HJ, Li J. The effects of reminiscence therapy on depressive symptoms of Chinese elderly: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2012 Nov 5;12:189. doi: 10.1186/1471-244X-12-189.