[Psychogenic impairment and current feelings in the elderly. Which options are offered by the biographical perspective?].

In the Eldermen study funded by the German Research Association (DFG), a consecutive sample of patients, aged > or = 60 (n = 120) and being treated for a variety of internal medical complaints in an acute geriatric hospital were examined with the help of comprehensive somatic diagnostics, standardised questionnaires, and a semi-structured biographical interview. The study investigates the relationship between burdensome and supportive biographical experiences and the extent of psychogenic impairment as well as aspects of feeling tone and self-concept in later life. For the degree of psychogenic impairment (Impairment Score. IS; Schepank 1995), subjectively experienced burdens and support were found to be more relevant than "objective" burdens. As expected, subjective burdens consistently experienced over several life phases, particularly in association with limited experienced support, were found to be associated with greater psychogenic impairment and a higher "case risk" in later life. However, the patients with the highest values for current life satisfaction as well as a more positive self-concept were not those patients who never experienced more burdens than support in their biographies, but rather those who experienced more burden than support in one life phase. The results are presented in relation to models of learning theory and object relation theory and discussed for their clinical relevance.