Abstract

The aim of the study is to assess whether coping strategies of depressive patients’ caregivers are influenced more by such factors as their age, education level, psychosocial functioning of patients suffering from depression episode, or by the presence of symptoms of the illness. Two groups were tested: patients with depression (N=30) and their caregivers (N=30) with the use of the following set of methods: Beck Depression Inventory, Mental Adjustment to Cancer by M. Watson (Mini-MAC) adjusted to the study conditions and The Self-efficacy Scale by Sherer et al. It occurred, that implying constructive coping strategies (mainly positive reinterpretation) by caregivers of depressive patients is related mainly to their age, while their destructive functioning (mainly anxious preoccupation) is related mostly to their level of education and the way the patients were dealing with their own depression (and especially their felling of being hopeless/helpless). No relation was observed, however, between the strategies chosen and the intensity of depressive symptoms, nor the caregiver’s sex. The results of the study suggest that the substantial role in effectiveness of care implemented in case of patients suffering from a depression episode may be played by the strategies of coping chosen by patients and their caregivers.

Adres: Małgorzata Tartas
Zakład Badań nad Jakością Życia Katedry Psychologii GUMed
ul. Tuwima 15, 80-210 Gdańsk
e-mail: mtartas@gumed.edu.pl