Running Head: The Relationship between Depression and Age

Depression may be influenced by age differences. Other studies showed no relationship between age and depression so one should expect no relationship between the two in further studies. Data was obtained from 41 college students in order to determine relationships between the profile of Mood States (POMS), the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI), and the Life Change Inventory (LCI). Within the administration of the POMS, only the Profile of Mood States for Depression (POMSD) was used for this study. The POMSD did not show a correlation with age (p>.05), and the BDI showed no relationship to age (p>.05). Although no correlations were found, considering other reasons for the results are important. Because of problems in construct validity, the results are nonsignificant.

[...] Results The median age was 25.0 with a range of The median score on the POMSD was 19.0 with a range of The median score on the BDI was 8.5 with a range of There was no correlation between the scores of POMSD and BDI (rho(38)=.146, p<.01). None of the students were aware of the purpose of the survey when answering the last question. There was no correlation found between the POMSD and age scores. (rho(38)= -.076, p>.05). There was also no relation between BDI and age scores. [...]

[...] One would also expect there to be a relationship between the POMSD scores and the BDI scores. Oddly enough, there was no relationship here either, opening up to discussion whether the BDI and POMSD are accurate means of measuring depression. Finding a tool for measuring depression that shows similar results to other depression scales may prove useful to future researchers. Something to take into consideration to refine the study would be to determine which age groups are most likely to differ in their responses and remissions to various therapies (Mitchell & Subramaniam, 2005). [...]