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Centre for Policy on Ageing | |
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| Life events, distress, symptoms and functioning in late-life severe mental illness | | Author(s) | Elizabeth A S Jackson, Suzanne Meeks, Emily S Vititoe |
| Journal title | Journal of Mental Health and Aging, vol 8 no 1, Spring 2002 |
| Pages | pp 59-87 |
| Keywords | Mental disorder ; Symptoms ; Stress ; Longitudinal surveys ; United States of America. |
| Annotation | The nature of the psychological reaction to stressful life events among 313 middle aged and older people with severe mental illnesses is explored using an 8-month prospective design. All diagnostic groups in the sample - from a large community mental health centre's (CMHC) catchment area - showed an effective response similar to, but more delayed than, responses seen in normal older people. Diagnostic differences in the pattern of responding to stress suggested that people with schizophrenia are most vulnerable to the cumulative effects of stress on functioning. People with bipolar disorder showed a more immediate stress reaction than others, but later showed an improvement not seen in other groups. Both affective disorder groups showed evidence of an ongoing, reciprocal process between distress, affective symptoms, and life events, but functioning was unaffected by events. Results suggest the importance of providing outpatient support to people with stable but enduring severe mental illnesses, with particular attention to affective symptoms. (RH). |
| Accession Number | CPA-020924222 A |
| Classmark | E: CT: QNH: 3J: 7T |
Data © Centre for Policy on Ageing |
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| ...from the Ageinfo database published by Centre for Policy on Ageing. |
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