[Conceptual and theoretical bases of an instrument developed to identify self care needs in women treated for depressive disorders].

Nursing research in the field of psychiatry and mental health must be based on nursing models if it is to make a real contribution to the development of a body of knowledge specific to nursing. This article describes the conceptual foundations and different stages involved in the development of an instrument (The Self-care Needs Inventory) in the framework of a study based on the Orem self-care nursing model (1991, 1995). The objective of this comparative descriptive study was to describe self-care requisites of women treated for depression. The concept of self-care requisites, the fundamental aspect on which this research is based, refers to the expression of a general goal that individuals pursue or should pursue in order to maintain or improve their health and well-being (Orem, 1991). To study the concept and pinpoint its major components, we correlated the concept with intermediate-level theories: social adjustment of women during and after an acute depressive episode, self-affirmation and realization, clinical manifestations of depression and how they are treated. These components were then made operational, i.e. measurable in concrete terms. A list of statements of specific self-care requisites was put together from various measurement tools used to evaluate identified components. The list was submitted to experts to establish its nominal validity. The instrument thus constituted was used with two groups : a group of women treated for depression (n = 30) and a group of women not treated for depression (n = 30). The women were asked to assign a value to each statement to reflect the importance they attached to the statement. The values were then compared to identify self-care requisites specific to women treated for depression.