Group psychotherapy in depressed and cognitively impaired elderly individuals: A pilot study
Giorgio De Isabella, Giulia Belloni, Laura Galbiati, Elena Cristina, Simonetta Raisi, Valentina Lacelli, Claudio Luzzatti
This research project aims to investigate the effectiveness of a psychotherapeutic group intervention,
Cognitive Therapy with Decentring Strategies (CTDS), designed by Bizzini et al. (1999), for the
treatment of depressive symptoms in elderly people with mild cognitive impairment. The study
involved 32 participants aged 60 years and over, suffering from anxiety-depressive syndrome. Twentyfive
of them received a diagnosis of Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) at their first neuropsychological
assessment, while 7 were cognitively intact. Participation in group psychotherapy was offered to all
experimental participants. Nineteen depressed, MCI and non-MCI individuals, accepted treatment,
13 MCI depressed subjects did not assent to participation. All 32 research participants were
administered further psychological and neuropsychological evaluation after 4 months. Comparing the
psychodiagnostic scores before and after treatment, participants in group therapy obtained significant
improvement in mood and a better level of psychological well-being, regardless of cognitive ability.
This improvement did not occur in the group (13 subjects) without treatment. A cognitive functioning
evaluation was also conducted with all subjects that were diagnosed with MCI. For all subjects, the
level of cognitive functioning didn’t change over time. This pilot study suggests a benefit of CTDS also
for depressed elderly people with MCI.
Keywords
Late onset depression, Aging, Mild Cognitive Impairment, Group Psychotherapy,
Cognitive Therapy with Decentring Strategies.
