Depression is regarded as the most prevalent mental health disorder in the elderly. Reminiscence, a normative and universal process which can facilitate the resolution, integration, and reorganization of past conflicts can have positive or negative effects on depression. One environment where the elderly are particularly at risk for the negative sequelae of reminiscing is the nursing home. Previous reminiscing studies have focused only upon one specific time period, rather than intermittent therapy, making their results of limited clinical application for professionals who work continuously with depressed nursing home residents. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of intermittent reminiscent therapy on depression levels of nursing home residents who had previously participated in a reminiscing therapy group which met for 11 weeks 9 months ago. A paired t-test revealed a significant initial decrease in depression levels followed by a small, but insignificant, difference between therapy sessions. This would indicate that although an insignificant difference was found from the first through the second therapy session, the initial decrease in depression was maintained, suggesting that such therapy had a positive long-term effect on residents' depression. (Author)