The Contribution of Depression to the Diagnosis of MCI and Dementia in a Culturally Diverse Sample of the United States

• Main Author: Lang, Merike K.
• Language: EN
• Published: Florida Atlantic University 2018
• Subjects: Psychobiology|Clinical psychology|Quantitative psychology
• Online Access: http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=10793689

<p> Depression is associated with higher severity of memory disorders and has been shown to predict lower levels of cognitive functioning in those diagnosed with Mild Cognitive Impairment (MCI) or dementia. Yet, little is known about this association cross-culturally, particularly between Hispanics and European Americans.</p><p> This study demonstrates that although levels of depression differed significantly across diagnostic group, Hispanics and European Americans were similar in levels of depression at each diagnosis. However, only for the European American group did depression levels predict lower scores in confrontational naming and semantic memory. Additionally, exploratory analyses of the entire sample demonstrated that lower depression predicted less likelihood of MCI or dementia diagnoses. This could indicate that there is a need for intervention and treatment of depression, in particular for later stages of MCI and dementia, that should be culturally catered to individual ethnicities. </p><p>