Negative Emotions and the Course of Depression During Psychotherapy in Suicidal Older Adults With Depression and Cognitive Impairment.

•Negative emotions precede and predict reduction of nonemotional symptoms of depression and reduction of depression severity in depressed, cognitively impaired older adults with suicidal ideation.•Our main findings highlight that negative emotions need to be targeted early in psychotherapy to accelerate the reduction of nonemotional symptoms, and therefore, contribute to the reduction of depression.•The findings can guide the treatment of older patients with depression and suicidal ideation to reduce depression and improve suicide risk.