Gladstone Gemma L, Parker Gordon B, Malhi Gin S, Wilhelm Kay A
School of Psychiatry, University of New South Wales and Mood Disorders Unit, Black Dog Institute, Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, New South Wales, 2031, Australia.
J Affect Disord. 2007 Nov;103(1-3):147-54. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2007.01.019. Epub 2007 Feb 27.
Much is known about the importance of social support for psychological health and general coping. While several measures exist to assess social support as a construct, less attention has been given to assessing the clinical and demographic factors associated with perceptions of low social support from multiple sources in clinically depressed patients.
Data on social support and depression history and severity were collected from a sample of 218 outpatients with major depression. Patients were assessed with clinical assessment interviews and self-report measures including the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS).
More than half of the patients sampled believed that a lack of social support was instrumental in maintaining their depressive condition. Perceptions of low social support, particularly that provided by the family, were significantly associated with objective markers of lifetime depression chronicity.
Clinicians interested in assisting patients' recovery cannot afford to overlook the potential role played by interpersonal factors in maintaining depression. Patients with more chronic lifetime depression histories require psychotherapeutic assistance for coping with interpersonal stressors and maintaining or building supportive relationships.
社会支持对心理健康和总体应对的重要性已广为人知。虽然有多种措施可用于评估作为一种结构的社会支持，但在临床抑郁症患者中，对于评估与来自多个来源的低社会支持感知相关的临床和人口统计学因素的关注较少。
从218名重度抑郁症门诊患者样本中收集了社会支持、抑郁病史和严重程度的数据。通过临床评估访谈和自我报告测量方法对患者进行评估，包括多维感知社会支持量表（MSPSS）。
超过一半的抽样患者认为缺乏社会支持对维持其抑郁状态起了作用。低社会支持的感知，尤其是来自家庭的支持，与终生抑郁慢性化的客观指标显著相关。
希望帮助患者康复的临床医生不能忽视人际因素在维持抑郁方面可能发挥的作用。有更慢性终生抑郁病史的患者需要心理治疗帮助来应对人际压力源，并维持或建立支持性的关系。
