Quality of Life, Depression, and End-of-Life Attitudes and Behaviors

Abstract

Examines relations among physical illness, depression, and end-of-life attitudes and behaviors. The author's review of the literature reveals that depression is neither inevitable in the terminal phase of life nor a necessary motivation for avoiding life-sustaining treatment or ending one's life. Although quality of life often erodes with declining health, the author proposes that many positive, non-health-related aspects of life strongly influence the judgments of seriously ill elders, depressed or otherwise, when thinking about life prolonging treatment. The author introduces a promising intervening variable, Valuation of Life (VOL), describes its measurement, and illustrates its utility in research demonstrating that VOL mediates the impact of both positive and negative aspects of one's life (including illness and depression) on end-of-life attitudes. The chapter concludes with an insightful list of unanswered questions to guide future research on end-of-life issues. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved)