The Effects of Integrative Reminiscence on Depressive Symptomatology and Mastery of Older Adults

Abstract

A quasi-experimental (non-randomized) study was conducted to study the effects of a new intervention The story of your life that combines integrative reminiscence with narrative therapy. The program consists of seven sessions of two hours and one follow-up session after 8 weeks.It is directed at community-dwelling people of 55 years and older with mild to moderate depressive symptoms. After the intervention the participants showed significantly less depressive symptoms and higher mastery, also in comparison with a waiting-list control group. Demographic factors and initial levels of depressive symptomatology and mastery were not found to moderate the effects. The effects were maintained at 3 months after completion of the intervention. Although the new program was positively evaluated by the majority of the participants there is room for improvement. Adaptations should be made, and evaluated in a randomised controlled trial.

Attachment-focused integrative reminiscence with older African Americans: a randomized controlled intervention study

“…The positive effects of integrative reminiscence on depressive symptoms in older adults is well-documented (e.g., Bacher, Kindler, Scheler, & Lerer, 1991; Bohlmeijer, E., Kramer, J., Smit, F., Onrust, S., & Marwijk, H., 2009; Bohlmeijer, E., Smit, F., & Cuijpers, P.; 2003; Fry, 1983; Haight & Dias, 1992; Lamers, Bohlmeijer, Korte, & Westerhof, 2015; Shellman, Mokel, & Hewitt, 2009; Stevens-Ratchford, 1992). In a meta-analysis of the impact of reminiscence and life review on depression in the elderly, Bohlmeijer, Smit, & Cuijpers (2003) found that in 15 randomized controlled trials, reminiscence and life review significantly improved depressive symptoms compared to controls and with large and highly significant effect sizes.…”

The effects of reminiscence therapy on depressive symptoms of Chinese elderly: study protocol of a randomized controlled trial

“…The finding indicated that subject's perceptions of treatment efficacy, or therapist competency did not influence the outcome measures [28]. However, Bohlmeijer et al (2009) proposed people who had more positive and general attitude towards reminiscence therapy would benefit more than people who were less interested in that [37]. We will examine these factors in the study.…”

“…Besides alleviating the depression symptoms, reminiscence therapy was proved to improve self-esteem [34], life satisfaction [35], psychological well-being [36], personal mastery [37,38] and loneliness [39,40]. However, the conclusion is not consistent [41-43].…”

A quasi-experimental study of a reminiscence program focused on autobiographical memory in institutionalized older adults with cognitive impairment

“…The effectiveness of simple reminiscence evidence is limited with regard to its effects on mental health . Several research findings point to the positive effects of reminiscence in reducing depressive symptoms (Bohlmeijer, Valenkamp, Westerhof, Smit, & Cuijpers, 2005;Chiang et al, 2010;Kwon, Cho, & Lee, 2013;Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012;Shellman, Mokel, & Hewitt, 2009;Stinson, Young, Kirk, & Walker, 2010), improving cognition (Cotelli, Manenti, & Zanetti, 2012;Kwon et al, 2013;Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012;Woods, Spector, & Jones, 2005), mood (Cotelli et al, 2012;Lin, Dai, & Hwang, 2003;Woods et al, 2005), quality of life (Kwon et al, 2013), satisfaction with life (Chiang, Lu, Chu, Chang, & Chou, 2008;Lin et al, 2003), self-esteem (Chao et al, 2006;Chiang et al, 2008), well-being (Chiang et al, 2010;Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012;Reis-Bergan, Gibbons, Gerrard, & Ybema, 2000), mastery (Bohlmeijer et al, 2005;Bohlmeijer, Kramer, Smit, Onrust, & Van Marwijk, 2009;Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012), ego integrity, purpose in life, preparation for death, mental health and social integration (Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012). Nevertheless, despite the potential beneficial of reminiscence therapy, authors are unanimous in recognizing constraints, particularly in methodological designs, that hampers an effective assessment of the impact of this therapy (Cotelli et al, 2012;Lin et al, 2003;Lopes, Afonso, & Ribeiro, 2014;Pinquart & Forstmeier, 2012;Westerhof et al, 2010;Woods et al, 2005).…”