The effectiveness of cognitive behavioral therapy for ego-integrity of depressed elderly women living alone

우울한 여성독거노인의 자아통합감 증진을 위한 인지행동치료 프로그램 개발 및 효과

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to develop a cognitive behavioral therapy program for ego-integrity of depressed elderly women living alone, and to verify its effectiveness. Method: The subjects of this study were composed of elderly women(age 65 and older) living alone who had basic literacy skills, 24 or higher in mental state examination(MMSE-K), and 6 or higher in elderly depression(GDS). 29 women were randomly assigned into an experimental group(cognitive behavioral therapy), a comparison group(reminiscence therapy) and a control group. The experimental group and the comparison group retrospectively participated in a 90-minute therapy session twice a week for a total of 12 weeks. The effectiveness of the program was assessed through a pretest, posttest, and 2-month follow-up test. The data collected were analyzed with SPSS 22.0 statistical program. Results: The main findings of this study are as follows. First, at posttest ego-integrity and self-esteem marked higher scores in both of the experimental group and the comparison group than in the control group, but the experimental group marked comparatively higher scores than the comparison group. For dysfunctional attitude, only the experimental group showed lower scores compared to the comparison group and the control group. Second, at posttest depression marked lower scores in the experimental group compared to the comparison group and the control group. Third, at posttest problem-solving and support-seeking coping strategies marked higher scores in the experimental group compared to the comparison group and the control group. Fourth, the significant improvements remained at 2-month follow-up test. Conclusions: Cognitive behavioral therapy resulted in improvements of the ego-integrity and related symptoms of depressed elderly women living alone at posttest and 2-month follow-up test respectively.