ABSTRACT
Many changes occur in aging, such as the emergence of health problems, a decrease in
functional status, retirement and the loss of financial resources (Shields & Martel, 2006;
Turcotte & Schellenberg, 2007). Studies reveal that many older people present psycho-
logical distress, depression symptoms or mental health disorders. In the United States, the
U.S. Federal Interagency Forum on Aging-Related Statistics (2010) reported that almost
18% of older women and 10% of older men presented clinical symptoms of depression in
2006. In Canada, Preville et al. (2008) found similar results among a representative sample of 2798 older adults living at home in Quebec, 12.7% of which meet the diagnostic
criteria for depression, mania, anxiety disorders and benzodiazepine dependency. Consid-
ering that the majority of older people live as couples (Statistics Canada, 2007; U.S.
Census Bureau, 2011), more studies should be conducted among this population in order
to better understand the emergence of psychological distress in aging.
