Objectives: Hoarding disorder in older adults often develops in the context of co-occurring psychosocial maladies, and treatment response tends to be suboptimal. This preliminary investigation explored several ageing-related factors and their relationship to hoarding symptom severity (HSS), and examined treatment response to 15 sessions of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with in-home support.
Methods: Twenty-nine participants (Mage = 67) completed self-report questionnaires measuring HSS, self-control, indecisiveness, depression, loneliness, social support and boredom, before (T1) and after (T2) treatment.
Results: At T1, HSS was associated marginally with loneliness and significantly with all other variables, except social support. At T2, HSS and depression decreased significantly and only boredom and self-control remained associated with HSS. Attrition rates were high, and those with low social support were more likely to discontinue treatment prematurely.
Conclusions: Increasing social support may improve treatment retention, and pre-emptively reducing sources of boredom and increasing self-control during treatment might improve outcomes for older adults with hoarding disorder.
Keywords: boredom; hoarding; hoarding disorder; self-control; social support.
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