Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access

Abstract

Effectiveness of Laughter Therapy and Music Intervention in the Psychological Management of Geriatric Depression among Rural Community Dwelling Older Adults in Oyo State, Southwest Nigeria

Olabisi Modupe Osimade*

Background: Global concerns for geriatric depression (GD) and its associating consequences are on the increase. Despite advances at GD management in Nigeria, a lot of older adults are disadvantaged in terms of awareness, environment etc. Previous studies focused on prevalence and predisposing factors of GD, while those that explored depression management investigated the effectiveness of antidepressants and psychotherapies that exerts the cognitive, sensory and motor abilities of the elderly. Method: The pre-test, post-test, control group quasi experimental design with a 3 × 5 × 3 factorial matrix was adopted for the study. A total of ninety-four (94) participants were purposively selected from three randomly selected local government areas in Ibadan. Participants were further randomly assigned into two experimental groups - Laughter Therapy Group (29), the Music Intervention Group (34) and the Control Group (31). Results: Data were subjected to Analysis of covariance, and Scheffe Post-hoc analysis. There was a significant main effect of treatment on geriatric depression (F2 82 = 7.323, P<.05, partial η2 = 0.152). Laughter Therapy (x????=13.03) and Music Intervention (x????=11.91) effectively managed geriatric depression in comparison to those in the control group (x????=6.88). There was a significant main effect of personality traits on GD (F (1,97) = 4.679, p<.05, partial η2 =. 054). There was a significant main effect of health locus of control on geriatric depression (F2, 96 =4.210, p<0.05, partial η2 =0.093). Conclusion: The study has ascertained the effectiveness of laughter therapy and music intervention in the psychological management of geriatric depression of rural community dwelling older adults, thereby adding to existing literature on LT and MI for future research. This contribution is advancement to geriatric depression study and management in Nigeria; hence, findings from the study can be adopted in both community and clinical studies of depression.

Published Date: 2020-07-10; Received Date: 2020-06-14