Comparison among Four Measures of Depression in Younger and Older Alcoholics
Two hypotheses were tested: (1) The Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS) would be less affected by age in an older alcoholic group than in a younger one. (2) In comparison with other depression scales—Beck Depression Inventory, Depression Scale of MMPI, and Dysthymic Scale of Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory—the Geriatric Depression Scale would be the one least affected by age in the older group. To test these hypotheses two groups were formed, containing 36 and 37 subjects, whose mean ages were 32.50 and 53.98 yr. All subjects were administered the four depression scales and tests of cognitive function. The results confirmed the first hypothesis as r was .32 between age and the Geriatric Depression Scale for the younger group and .03 for the older group. The second hypothesis was not confirmed. All four depression scales correlated nonsignificantly with age in the older group. The use of the depression scales for all ages was supported and discussed.