title: Depressed mood and social support as predictors of quality of life in women receiving home health care.
abstract: We examined relationships among depressed mood, social support and quality of life in 58 medically ill low-income women 40 years and older receiving home health care. Analyses showed a negative relationship between depressed mood and quality of life (p's < or = 0.05). Positive relationships were found between number of people available for support and two of three quality of life domains as well as satisfaction with support and all three domains (p's < or = 0.05). Results also provided preliminary support that belonging to a church is related to emotional well-being (p = 0.039) and among those belonging to a church, recent increased activity was related to social/family well-being (p = 0.004). Mediational analyses revealed a cycle of depressed mood, dissatisfaction with social support, and loss of social support providers underlying the poor quality of life of many participants. This highlights the need to address the relationship between depression and social support when treating patients with chronic illness.
authors.affiliation: Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA. loisf@bcm.tmc.edu
authors.forename: Lois C
authors.initials: LC
authors.lastname: Friedman
authors.forename: Anthony E
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Catherine
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Romero
authors.forename: Mario F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Dulay
authors.forename: Leif E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Peterson
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Wehrman
authors.forename: Deborah J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Whisnand
authors.forename: Larry
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Laufman
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lomax
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003863:Depression; D005260:Female; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D011203:Poverty; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012944:Social Support; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013781:Texas