Uncapher H, Gallagher-Thompson D, Osgood N J, Bongar B
Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco 94143-0984, USA.
Gerontologist. 1998 Feb;38(1):62-70. doi: 10.1093/geront/38.1.62.
This study examined the role that hopelessness plays in geriatric suicidal ideation. Sixty institutionalized elderly males were recruited. Multiple regression analyses revealed that while hopelessness was strongly related to suicidal ideation, the relationship between hopelessness and suicidal ideation was dependent on level of depression. Participants who reported moderate or higher levels of depressive symptoms were more likely to have suicidal ideation with increasing hopelessness, whereas hopelessness had little effect on level of ideation at mild or lower depressive symptom levels. Unlike previous studies in younger adults, hopelessness did not predict suicidal ideation better than depressive symptoms, although the relationship between depression and suicidal ideation was stronger within higher levels of hopelessness. These findings highlight the importance of considering depression and hopelessness simultaneously when assessing and treating geriatric suicidal ideation.
本研究考察了绝望感在老年自杀意念中所起的作用。招募了60名住养老院的老年男性。多元回归分析显示，虽然绝望感与自杀意念密切相关，但绝望感与自杀意念之间的关系取决于抑郁程度。报告有中度或更高程度抑郁症状的参与者，随着绝望感增加更有可能产生自杀意念，而在轻度或更低抑郁症状水平时，绝望感对意念水平影响甚微。与之前针对年轻人的研究不同，绝望感在预测自杀意念方面并不比抑郁症状更好，尽管在更高程度的绝望感中，抑郁与自杀意念之间的关系更强。这些发现凸显了在评估和治疗老年自杀意念时同时考虑抑郁和绝望感的重要性。
