Blunted affect, blunted lives? negative symptoms, ADL functioning, and mental health among older adults

With the growing numbers of elderly chronically mentally ill individuals, there is increasing need for evaluation of assessment procedures relevant to this population. The assessment of negative symptoms among older patients may be especially problematic if expression of affect, poverty of speech, and social withdrawal are affected by normal ageing processes. The present study was intended to establish normative levels of negative symptoms for older adults. A sample of 127 elderly community residents was compared to smaller samples of elderly schizophrenics, nursing home residents without psychiatric disorder, and young schizophrenics, using the Scale for the Assessment of Negative Symptoms. The results support the validity of this scale for elderly individuals. Negative symptoms appeared rarely among community‐residing elders without psychiatric histories, so that a low cutting score on the scale identifies symptoms for this age group. For all groups negative symptoms were significantly related to competence in activities of daily living and ratings of mental health. Findings support the importance of assessing negative symptoms among the elderly chronically mentally ill. Further research is recommended to explore the relationship between asymptomatic levels of negative symptoms and functioning among non‐psychiatric elders.