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 (M. Whisman, 1993), as measured by the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale (DAS) of A. T. Beck et al (1991). 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 (S. Ilardi and W. Craighead, 1994) and an increased need to specifically treat hopelessness in older adults. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)