The effects of instrumental reminiscence on resilience and coping in elderly Juan C. Mele ´ ndez a , Flor B. Fortuna b , Alicia Sales a, *, Teresa Mayordomo a a Department of Developmental Psychology, Faculty of Psychology, University of Valencia, Spain b Autonomous University of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic 1. Introduction An ability human beings develop over the lifespan is adaptation to change. To function optimally while dealing with change, people implement coping strategies that can help them adjust to adverse situations. Lazarus and Folkman (1984) described coping as ‘‘constantly changing cognitive and behavioral efforts to manage specific external and/or internal demands that are appraised as taxing or exceeding the resources of the person’’ (p. 141). Authors have conceptualized coping’s different dimensions in various ways, but the problem-focused versus emotion-focused coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) is perhaps the most classic. The objective of problem-focused coping is to manage or change the problem itself causing the disturbance. Emotion-focused coping methods, meanwhile, regulate the person’s emotional response to that problem. Resilience is inextricably linked to coping, an outcome of good adaptation to stressful situations. Masten (2001) described it as ‘‘a class of phenomena characterized by good outcomes in spite of threats to adaptation or develop- ment’’ (p. 228). Resilience is a positive, adaptive approach to stress. Unlike other stages of development, elderly adults experience an age-associated loss of resources, both material and personal, that can hinder their ability to adjust to unfortunate situations. Thus, being able to adapt and cope with adversity is a determining factor in satisfactory aging. Of the non-pharmacological therapies available, reminiscence is the most suitable for elderly adults to better adapt to stressful situations. It has been recognized for its positive effects and therapeutic value in mental health contexts (O’Rourke, Cappeliez, & Claxton, 2011; Webster, Bohlmeijer, & Westerhof, 2010; Wong & Watt, 1991). Reminiscence therapy tries to evoke significant memories from the past by sharing associated experiences, information, and events. Webster (2003) defined it as ‘‘the recall of personally experienced events from one’s past’’ (p. 203), generally the distant past. Reminiscing in reaction to change and loss is natural and can Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics 60 (2015) 294–298 A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 6 May 2014 Received in revised form 24 November 2014 Accepted 2 December 2014 Available online 25 December 2014 Keywords: Instrumental reminiscence Coping Resilience No pharmacological therapies A B S T R A C T Objectives: Aging, as a stage of development is marked by major changes to which the subject must adapt. Instrumental reminiscence is based on recalling times one coped with stressful circumstances, and analyzing what it took to adapt in those situations. The purpose of the present study was to analyze the effectiveness of an instrumental reminiscent program to enhance adaptive capacity (problem- focused coping and emotion-focused) and resilience in older adults. Method: Thirty participants noninstitutionalized conducted a pre and post assessment on a treatment consisting of the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE), Brief Resilient Coping Scale and Stress Coping Questionnaire (CAE). The program was developed over 8 sessions of 60 min. Results: Repeated measures analysis of variance showed significant differences in time–group interaction for treatment effectiveness of resilience measures, problem-solving coping, positive reappraisal and avoidance coping that it increased, and on emotion-focused coping and overt emotional expression that gets decreased after treatment. Conclusion: The instrumental reminiscence has proven to be a highly useful tool and is a potentially efficient way to improve adaptive capacity and resilience in the elderly to cope with adverse situations. Through non-pharmacological therapies, the quality of life has been improved, and subjects are provided with tools, strategies and skills that allow to achieve a satisfactory adaptation. ß 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. * Corresponding author at: Av. Blasco Iban ˜ez, 21, Valencia 46010, Spain. Tel.: +34 963983844; fax: +34 963864671. E-mail address: alicia.sales@uv.es (A. Sales). Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Archives of Gerontology and Geriatrics jo ur n al ho mep ag e: www .elsevier .c om /lo cate/ar c hg er http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.archger.2014.12.001 0167-4943/ß 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.