Cognitive-behavior therapy for older adults: How does it work?

The basic premise of cognitive-behavior therapy (CBT) is that depression is mediated by depressogenic patterns of thinking. Research with a general adult population has not consistently supported the proposed mediational effect of depressogenic thinking (Whisman, 1993), as measured by the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS; Beck, Brown, Steer, and Weissman, 1991). Our research suggests that the mediational effect of the DAS is even weaker with an older adult population. Proposed reasons for this age difference include a greater effect of the 'common factors' of psychotherapy (Ilardi and Craighead, 1994) and an increased need to specifically treat hopelessness in older adults.