The Role of Sense of Belonging and Social Support on Stress and Depression in Individuals With Depression

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This longitudinal study examined the role of sense of belonging, social support, and spousal support on the relationship between perceived stress and symptoms of depression in 90 men and women who had a history of depression (n = 51) and who did not have (n = 39) a history of depression. Data were obtained at 3, 6, and 9 months after initial entry into the study. A series of regression analysis procedures revealed a mediation effect, but not a moderation effect, of sense of belonging and perceived social support on the relationship between perceived stress and depression in only the depressed group. Spousal support had neither a direct effect nor an interaction effect on the perceived stress–depression relationship in the depressed group. For the comparison group, perceived stress did not correlate significantly with the symptoms of depression. Repeated measures analysis of variance showed that increased perceived stress and lower sense of belonging had significant direct effects on the severity of depression and the effects were consistent over the period of 9 months. Social support and spousal support had only indirect effects that fluctuated over time. The results emphasize that interventions geared toward stress reappraisal and promotion of sense of belonging should yield direct and stable effects of decreasing depression.

Section snippets

Perceived Stress

Perceived stress is defined as the degree to which situations in one's life are appraised as unpredictable, uncontrollable, and overloading (Cohen, Kamarachi, & Mermelstein, 1983). One's global perceived stress level has been shown to impact negative life events and influence depressive symptoms as outcomes (Wang & Patten, 2001). Kuiper, Olinger, and Lyons (1986) reported that the global level of stress significantly moderated the relationship between negative life events and depression. They

Design

This study was a longitudinal, correlational, and comparative study using a clinical group of participants diagnosed with MDD as compared with group-matched individuals with no reported history of depression. They were group-matched on age, sex, and race/ethnic background.

Participants and Setting

Ninety participants were in the study. Of all participants, 51 (57%) were in the depressed group and 39 (43%) were in the comparison group; 63 (70%) were women and 27 (30%) were men. Their mean age was 38.8 (SD = 14.0), and

Analysis

Differences in demographic characteristics between depressed and comparison (n = 90) participants were analyzed using t tests and chi-squares. To test for moderation and mediation, a series of regression analysis procedures specified by Baron and Kenny (1986) was performed. Residual analysis was used to examine for violations of assumption for using regression analysis. Repeated measures analysis of variance was used to investigate the relationship between included study variables over time.

To

Results

There were no differences between the depressed group and comparison group regarding their educational level or income status. There was, however, a significant association between marital status and group status. The depressed group were more likely to be either single or divorced, whereas the comparison group was more likely to be married, χ2(2, 90) = 10.45, P = .005, Cramer's V = .34.

As expected, the scores of all included variables consisting of the BDI, PSS, SOBI, SOCIAL-S, and SPOUSE-S

Discussion

Study results indicate the differences between individuals with a depression history as compared with nondepressed individuals in study variables. These differences were consistently shown through study analyses.

The mean level of depression for the depression group was mild (Beck et al., 1996). This probably occurred because some participants were not in a depressive episode at the time of the study whereas some of participants were. Data indicated that participants in the comparison group were

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