HOPE, COGNITIVE FUNCTIONING AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS IN THE ELDERLY

• DOI: 10.22533/at.ed.1593572302082

• Palavras-chave: Elderly. Cognitive functioning. Depressed symptoms. Hope.

• Keywords: Elderly. Cognitive functioning. Depressed symptoms. Hope.

• Abstract:

  Introduction: As people age, they need to have quality of life, and for this, topics such as hope, cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms need to be further explored. Objective: to verify the relationship between hope, cognitive functioning and depressive symptoms in the elderly. Method: observational, cross-sectional study with a descriptive analytical approach. The instruments used were the Mini Mental State Examination (MMSE) for sample selection, the Consortium to Stabilize a Registry for Alzheimer's Disease (CERAD), the Dispositional Hope Scale and the Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS-15). Correlation analyzes (Spearman) between the Dispositional Hope Scale were compared with the CERAD and GDS instruments. Results: The sample consisted of 101 elderly people, 20 of whom were excluded because they had scores below 28 points on the MMSE, and 81 were analyzed. LOL. The Word List was significantly related to the Dispositional Hope Scale, pointing to higher average Hope scores in the investigated group, with expected classification for the total Hope (p=0.001) and the Ways Dimension (p=0,011). Conclusion: Hope is a positive adaptation, a protective factor of the psyche and transformation of negative behaviors, thoughts and feelings into new possibilities, enabling the elderly to face life's cumulative stressful circumstances. High levels of hope and the absence of depressive symptoms contributed for these individuals to present a better cognitive performance in tasks of Boston Naming, Verbal Fluency and Semantic Verbal Fluency and Phonological Fluency and Language, Executive Function and Long-Term Memory.