The relationship of social support, social networks and negative events with depression in patients with coronary artery disease

This study examined the relationship of social relationships and negative l ife events with major depression among 335 inpatients with coronary artery disease (CAD) who were free of neurological illnesses. Depression was asses sed using the Duke Depression Evaluation Schedule, a structured psychiatric interview which included the Diagnostic Interview Schedule depression sub- scale, two scales for measuring instrumental and self-maintenance activitie s of daily living, a measure of negative events and four dimensions of soci al support. Twenty-seven subjects met DSM-IV criteria for major depression. Examination of the bivariate relationships indicated that being younger, h aving at least one problem with an ADL and/or one IADL, being non-white, ex periencing a greater number of negative events, lack of perceived social su pport and a lack of social interactions were significantly related to an in creased likelihood of being depressed. In multivariate analyses depressed s ubjects were significantly more likely to report a greater number of negati ve events than non-depressed individuals after adjusting for sociodemograph ic and ADL measures. A lack of perceived social support and increased numbe r of negative events increased the likelihood of reporting major depressive symptoms among CAD patients. Understanding the causes of depression in CAD patients may have clinical utility in that reduction in depression may lea d to a decreased risk of future CAD events.