Cognitive Attributions, Depressive Symptoms and Hopelessness as Predictors of Perceived Desirability of Physician-Assisted Suicide in Alzheimer's Caregivers
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
5-1999
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.1177/153331759901400306
Abstract
This study compared attitudes towards physicianassisted suicide in two groups of older persons, 57-caregivers of relatives with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and 46-non-caregivers. A series of two-way ANOVAs by caregiver status and level of depressive symptoms compared hopelessness scores, attribution styles, and beliefs about physician-assisted suicide. Two attributional style scales were significantly associated with depressive symptoms. Subjects who felt less in control of the stresses in their lives reported more depressive symptoms (F = 10.16, p = .002). Subjects who felt that the factors causing stress were unchangeable also reported significantly more depressive symptoms (F = 5.41, p = .022). Over twothirds of both groups believed assisted suicide was a rational decision in some circumstances, but 40 percent of caregivers and only 24 percent of non-caregivers believed physicians should assist patients in committing suicide.
Was this content written or created while at USF?
Yes
Citation / Publisher Attribution
American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, v. 14, issue 3, p. 165-171
Scholar Commons Citation
Roscoe, Lori A. and Cohen, Donna, "Cognitive Attributions, Depressive Symptoms and Hopelessness as Predictors of Perceived Desirability of Physician-Assisted Suicide in Alzheimer's Caregivers" (1999). Communication Faculty Publications. 367.
https://digitalcommons.usf.edu/spe_facpub/367
