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Background: Despite the potential for benefit, resilience remains an emergent area in late-life mental health care, and evidence of resilience intervention for suicide among nursing home residents is especially limited. This study aims to evaluate the effects of a resilience-targeted program based on the "I have, I am, and I can" strategy on suicidal ideation and related problems.Methods: From the 562 nursing home residents who were contacted, 68 with suicidal ideation were recruited and then randomly assigned to a resilience intervention group (eight-week resilience training; n = 34) or a wait-list control group (eight-week health education; n = 34). Self-reported suicidal ideation, and depression and anxiety symptoms as outcomes, and resilience as potential mediators were assessed at baseline, postintervention, and one-month follow-up.Results: Resilience training participants reported significant improvement in suicidal ideation (group × time interaction x2=12.564, p = 0.002) and depression symptoms (x2=9.441, p = 0.009) compared to wait-list control group participants. Changes in resilience mediated the intervention's effects on changes in suicidal ideation and depression symptoms. Limitations The observed effects must be considered preliminary due to the small sample size.Conclusions: The findings support the benefits of resilience training based on the "I have, I am, and I can" strategy in reducing suicidal ideation and suicide-related symptoms in nursing home older adults, and provide insight into possible mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Defense mechanisms play an important role in the development and maintenance of both health and psychopathology. Research is still in the early stages of investigating the specific relationships among diagnostic groups and defense mechanisms along with their response to different treatment types.Methods: For the present study a total of 47 outpatients diagnosed with depression or anxiety disorders were randomized to receive 25±3 sessions of cognitive-behavioral therapy with integrated elements of either emotion-focused therapy (CBT + EFT) or treatment components based on self-regulation theory (CBT + SR). An observer-rated method, the Defense Mechanism Rating Scale (DMRS) was used to code transcripts of the 1st, 8th, 16th and 24th session to assess change in defensive functioning.Results: Over the course of therapy, overall defensive functioning (ODF) as well as adaptive defenses increased significantly, whereas maladaptive and neurotic defenses did not change. At the beginning of treatment, the proportion of adaptive defenses and ODF was significantly higher in patients diagnosed with anxiety disorders than in patients with depressive disorders. However, depressed patients exhibited greater improvement in their defensive functioning over the course of therapy.Conclusions: Results support the view of defense mechanisms as a useful transdiagnostic and transtheoretical concept and supports the notion that change of defense mechanisms may be a relevant mechanism of change in psychotherapy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]