The Effectiveness of Positive Psychotherapy on Pscychological Characteristics of the Elderly

According to the growing population of elderly and emerging problems such as disappointment and depression, it is necessary to increase the mental health index by paying attention to the abilities and positive feelings of the elderly. Therefore, this research aimed to investigate the effectiveness of positive psychotherapy on depression, self-inventory, self-knowledge, and psychological characteristics of the elderly living in Isfahan.

This experimental research has been done in Isfahan in 2020. The participants included all the elderly aged above 60 years, living in Isfahan; 40 participants were selected purposefully based on inclusion criteria and were randomly divided into the experimental and control groups equally. Measurements consisted of scales of elderly depression, self-inventory, self-knowledge, and positive psychological characteristics. Questioners were completed before the intervention; then, positive psychotherapy was performed for the experimental group for six weeks, twice a week for two days among sessions for 11 sessions (each session was 90 minutes). Questioners have been completed immediately at the end of the sessions. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software (version 23).

Findings of the research have demonstrated that positive psychotherapy has a significant role in the reduction of depression and improvement of self-inventory, self-knowledge, and positive psychological characteristics of the elderly (p<0.05).

It is concluded that positive psychotherapy can be used as an efficient method in order to decrease depression and improve self-inventory, self-knowledge, and positive psychological features in the elderly at counseling and psychotherapy centers.