Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-25T10:11:31.397Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Marital Support and Recovery from Depression

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

P. N. Goering*
Affiliation:
Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Departments of Psychiatry and Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto
W. J. Lancee
Affiliation:
Social and Community Psychiatry, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
S. J. J. Freeman
Affiliation:
Social and Community Psychiatry, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry; Department of Psychiatry, University of Toronto
*
Social and Community Psychiatry Section, Clarke Institute of Psychiatry, University of Toronto, 250 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 1R8, Canada

Abstract

A prospective study of 47 married women who met RDC for major depressive disorder investigated the relationship between the social support provided by the husbands and the post-hospital symptom course of the women. Separate taped semistructured interviews were held with the patient and husband at the time of admission. Six months later, symptom course was rated using the LIFE psychiatric status schedule. Only 51 % of the sample recovered in the six months. Few demographic or clinical factors were related to symptom course. Recovery was predicted by the depressed woman's ratings of the current marital relationship and by the husband's rating of the pre-morbid relationship but not by the husband's level of expressed criticism or his ratings of the current relationship.

Type
Papers
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Akiskal, H. S., King, D., Rosenthal, T. L., et al (1981) Chronic depressions. Part 1: Clinical and familial characteristics in 137 probands. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 297315.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Billings, A. G. & Moos, R. H. (1985a) Life stressors and social resources affect posttreatment outcomes among depressed patients. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 94, 140153.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Billings, A. G. & Moos, R. H. (1985b) Psychosocial theory and research on depression: an integrative framework and review. Clinical Psychology Review, 2, 213217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bronisch, T., Wittchen, H. U., Krieg, C., et al (1985) Depressive neurosis: a long-term prospective and retrospective follow-up study of former inpatients. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica, 71, 237248.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Rutter, M. (1966) The measurement of family activities and relationships: a methodological study. Human Relations, 19, 241263.Google Scholar
Brown, G. W. & Harris, T. (1978) Social Origins of Depression: a Study of Psychiatric Disorder in Women. London: Tavistock.Google Scholar
Bullock, R., Siegel, R., Wiessman, M., et al (1972) The weeping wife: marital relations of depressed women. Journal of Marriage and Family, 34, 488495.Google Scholar
Corney, R. H. (1987) Marital problems and treatment outcome in depressed women: a clinical trial of social work intervention. British Journal of Psychiatry, 151, 652659.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Costello, C. G. (1982) Social factors associated with depression: a retrospective community study. Psychological Medicine, 12, 329340.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Endicott, J., Spitzer, R., Fleiss, J., et al (1977) The global assessment scale: a procedure for measuring overall severity of psychiatric disturbance. Archives of General Psychiatry, 33, 766771.Google Scholar
Endicott, J. & Spitzer, R. (1978) A diagnostic interview: the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 837844.Google Scholar
Endicott, J., Cohen, J., Nee, J., et al (1981) Hamilton depression rating scale extracted from the schedule for affective disorders and schizophrenia SADS–C. Archives of General Psychiatry, 38, 98103.Google Scholar
Friedman, A. S. (1975) Interaction of drug therapy with marital therapy in depressive patients. Archives of General Psychiatry, 32, 619638.Google Scholar
Goering, P., Wasylenki, D., Lancee, W., et al (1983a) After discharge: the importance of life events and life hassles for psychiatric patients. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health, 2, 3138.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goering, P., Wasylenki, D., Lancee, W., et al (1983b) Social support and post-hospital outcome for depressed women. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 11, 321.Google Scholar
Goering, P., Wasylenki, D., Lancee, W., et al (1984) From hospital to community: six-month and two-year outcomes for 505 patients. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 172, 667673.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hames, J. & Waring, E. M. (1980) Marital intimacy and non-psychotic emotional illness. Psychiatric Forum, 9, 1319.Google Scholar
Henderson, S., Byrne, D. G. & Duncan-Jones, P. (1981) Neurosis and the Social Environment. London: Academic Press.Google Scholar
Hinchcliffe, M. K., Hooper, D. & Roberts, F. J. (1978) The Melancholy Marriage. Toronto: John Wiley and Sons.Google Scholar
Hooley, J., Orley, J. & Teasdale, J. D. (1986) Levels of expressed emotion and relapse in depressed patients. British Journal of Psychiatry, 148, 642647.Google Scholar
Hooley, J., & Phil, D. (1990) Expressed emotion and depression. In Depression and Families: Impact and Treatment (ed. Keitner, G. I.), pp. 5584. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Ilfeld, F. W. (1977) Current social stressors and symptoms of depression. American Journal of Psychiatry, 134, 161166.Google Scholar
Katz, M. M., Secunda, S. K., Hirschfeld, R. M. A., et al (1979) NIMH Clinical Research Branch collaborative program on the psychobiology of depression. Archives of General Psychiatry, 36, 765771.Google Scholar
Keitner, G. I. (ed.) (1990) Depression and Families: Impact and Treatment. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Keitner, G. I., Miller, I. W. & Epstein, N. B. (1990) Family processes and the course of depressive illness. In Depression and Families: Impact and Treatment (ed. Keitner, G. I.), pp. 130. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.Google Scholar
Keller, M. B. & Shapiro, R. W. (1981) Major depressive disorder: initial results from a one-year prospective naturalistic follow-up study. Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 169, 761768.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Keller, M. B., Shapiro, R. W., Lavori, P. W., et al (1982) Recovery in major depressive disorder: analysis with the life table and regression models. Archives of General Psychiatry, 39, 905910.Google Scholar
Leavy, R. (1983) Social support and psychological disorder: a review. Journal of Community Psychology, 11, 321.3.0.CO;2-E>CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Leff, J. & Vaughn, C. (1985) Expressed Emotion in Families: its Significance for Mental Illness, pp. 112120. New York, NY: Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Mitchell, R. E. & Moos, R. H. (1984) Deficiencies in social support among depressed patients: antecedents or consequences of stress? Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 25, 438452.Google Scholar
Mueller, D. P. (1980) Social networks: a promising direction for research on the relationship of the social environment to psychiatric disorder. Social Science and Medicine, 14A, 147161.Google Scholar
Quinton, D., Rutter, M. & Rowlands, O. (1976) An evaluation of an interview assessment of marriage. Psychological Medicine, 6, 577586.Google Scholar
Rounsaville, B. J., Weissman, M. M., Prusoff, B. A., et al (1979) Marital disputes and treatment outcome in depressed women. Comprehensive Psychiatry, 20, 483490.Google Scholar
Roy, A. (1978) Vulnerability factors and depression in women. British Journal of Psychiatry, 133, 106160.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shapiro, R. & Keller, M. B. (1979) Longitudinal Interval Follow-up Evaluation (LIFE). Boston, Mass.: Massachusetts General Hospital.Google Scholar
Shapiro, R. & Keller, M. B. (1981) Initial six month follow-up of patients with major depressive disorder. Journal of Affective Disorders, 3, 205220.Google Scholar
Snyder, K. S. & Liberman, R. P. (1981) Family assessment and intervention with schizophrenics at risk for relapse. In New Directions for Mental Health Services. New Developments in Interventions With Families of Schizophrenics (ed. Goldstein, M.). San Francisco: Josey Bass.Google Scholar
Spitzer, R. L., Endicott, J. & Robbins, E. (1978) Research diagnostic criteria: rationale and reliability. Archives of General Psychiatry, 35, 773785.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Vaughn, C. E. & Leff, J. P. (1976a) The influence of family and social factors on the course of psychiatric illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 129, 125137.Google Scholar
Vaughn, C. E. & Leff, J. P. (1976b) The measurement of expressed emotion in the families of psychiatric patients. British Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 15, 157165.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Waring, E. M. & Patton, D. (1984) Marital intimacy and depression. British Journal of Psychiatry, 145, 641644.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.