Low Mood States Research Articles

Cultural Verification and Application of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) with Korean Elders

This study assessed the cultural verification of the Profile of Mood States (POMS) for Korean elderly and examined their mood states. After assessment of face validity by a panel of Korean experts, 319 Korean elders, older than 60 years, were recruited from personal contact or senior centers in five Korean cities and completed the questionnaire. Through item analysis, face validity, and factor analysis, the 65-item original POMS was revised and reduced to a three-factor, 34-item instrument specific to Korean elders. Results of descriptive analysis showed that Korean older people perceived relatively good mood states. Lower mood states were significantly correlated with female gender, advanced age, unemployment, less education, lower economic status, being widowed or divorced, and with their children as the main source of income. In conclusion, the revised POMS for Korean elders has been shown to be a reliable and valid measure of mood states.

Mood, depressive illness and gait patterns.

This study measures the ground force patterns of 87 normal, older adults. It tests the hypothesis that there is a relation between a subject's mood as measured by the Beck Inventory, and the ground reaction forces as measured by a force plate during normal gait. Results showed that the push-off force in the posterior and downward directions was correlated with the expression of mood state. Lower mood individuals demonstrated a smaller push-off force and these ground force patterns of low mood state subjects resembled the patterns found in a previous study of clinically depressed patients. It is suggested that gait measurement could provide a sensitive index of level of depression in a clinical population.