Cross-cultural effects of reminiscence therapy on life satisfaction and autobiographical memory of older adults: a pilot study across Mexico and Spain

BACKGROUND: There are increasing reports on the cognitive and emotional benefits of positive reminiscence therapy in older people. The objective of this study is to assess the differential improvement of the quality of life for older people in different vital situations (three different types of aging) and from different countries by implementing a positive reminiscence therapy program (REMPOS). METHODS: The participants were 144 older adults above the age of 65, 77 participants from Spain (45 experimental groups, 32 control groups) and 67 from Mexico (34 experimental groups, 33 control groups). The participants were recruited from nursing and retirement homes. A factorial randomized design with pre–post measurement with three independent variables: country (Mexico, Spain), condition (experimental, control), and types of aging (healthy aging, HA., mild cognitive impairment, MCI., Alzheimer’s disease, AD). The experimental groups received REMPOS therapy and control groups received standard cognitive stimulation program. The quality of life was measured with the Life Satisfaction Inventory for adults (LSI-A) and autobiographical memory test (AMT) before and after REMPOS therapy. RESULTS: The REMPOS intervention showed significantly higher positive effects than the control condition on the recall of specific positive memories across countries and types of aging, except for the Spanish MCI group. Life satisfaction in the Alzheimer’s and MCI group only improved with REMPOS in the Mexican sample. CONCLUSIONS: The REMPOS effects showed generalizable effects across countries, but the cross-cultural differences shown highlight the necessity of running studies to test those differential effects. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13195-023-01347-x.