The proposed research is a qualitative inquiry into how older adults (age 75 and older) view and express the experience of depression within their """"""""everyday lives"""""""" or how elderly individuals interpret and articulate the phenomenon of depression as an experienced event. Key questions to be explored include: how do older adults perceive depression within their overall life story, what role does narrative form play in influencing expressed themes of depression and explanatory style; and are explanatory style and expressed themes influenced by gender, race and/or by current depression status? Participants comprise a study group of 16 (8 European American men and women and 8 African American men and women) adults age 75 and over who are clinically depressed and a comparison group of race- and gender-matched participants who have had a clinical diagnosis of depression in the past but are currently not depressed. Both groups will participate in baseline depression assessments and oral life story interviews, a short writing task, and follow-up interviews. Narratives will be coded for thematic content and explanatory style. The study will provide an important contribution to improving understanding depression in the elderly, which will lead to improvements in patient-physician communication and improved compliance and adherence to treatment regimes. ? ?
