Dissertations and Theses @ UNI
Availability
Open Access Thesis
Keywords
Alzheimer's disease--Patients; Cognition disorders in old age; Depression in old age; Academic theses;
Abstract
Past research has identified a relationship between depression scores and memory functioning in "normal" populations. However, findings in the dementia of the Alzheimer's Type (DAT) population have been inconsistent, at best. The purpose of the present study was to further investigate whether Depression affects cognitive functioning in individuals with DAT to the same extent as it affects those without DAT. Depression and cognitive functioning was investigated in two groups of subjects: individuals diagnosed with DAT (N = 27), and older normal controls (N = 24). Cognitive functioning was operationalized as scores achieved on recent memory measures. Each group was assessed on cognitive functioning and depression measures at Time I and again three months later. As hypothesized, DAT participants scored significantly lower on cognitive functioning measures than normal control group. However, the groups did not differ significantly on measures of depression at Time I or Time IL No significant differences in change over time were found between the DAT group and the normal control group on either cognitive functioning or depression scores. Neither group had any significant change over the three month period on any measure. Cognitive functioning and depression scores remained stable. Furthermore, neither group demonstrated elevated levels of depression at any time throughout the study. The implications and limitations of this study and directions for future research were discussed.
Year of Submission
2003
Degree Name
Master of Arts
Department
Department of Psychology
First Advisor
Julia Wallace
Second Advisor
Cathy DeSoto
Third Advisor
Beverly Kopper
Date Original
2003
Object Description
1 PDF file (71 leaves)
Copyright
©2003 Emily A. Carr
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Carr, Emily A., "Depression and Cognitive Changes in Dementia of the Alzheimer’s Type and Normal Aging" (2003). Dissertations and Theses @ UNI. 2300.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/2300
Comments
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