Affect and depression in the elderly

Depression is considered one of the most complex mental disorders in the elderly. The diagnostic difficulties due to comorbidity, especially, with somatic diseases, have cast doubt on the use of diagnostic instruments for the elderly. In the present study, we try to determine the existence of differences in affect of third-age depression with respect to adult-age depression. For this purpose, the PANAS-X scale was administered to 120 subjects (30 depressive patients over 65 years old, 30 depressive patients between 25 and 50, and two control groups of 30 people each). The data allow us to establish two major differences of depression in the elderly compared to depression in adults: a lower intensity of negative affect and a lower intensity in the affects of fear, hostility and guilt. We can also conclude that sadness is not a differentiating element between both depressive groups.