Table 3.
Psychosocial comorbidities: by depression status
| Percentage or mean (SD) |
Bivariate yests |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Variables | Depressed (N=299) | Not depressed (N=315) | t or χ2 | p |
| Life events / Stress | ||||
| Perceived stress during the past 6 month (scale 1–10, higher more stressful) |
6.34 (2.99) Range 1–10 | 3.45 (2.63) Range 1–10 | 77.75 | <.0001 |
| Total number of negative life events, past yeara | 1.69 (1.49) Range 0–8 | 0.93 (1.13) Range 0–4 | 6.99 | <.0001 |
| Hospitalization | 66.82 | 52.51 | 12.5316 | 0.0004 |
| Illness or injury that kept the person from usual activities | 67.96 | 52.95 | 13.212 | 0.0003 |
| Family member’s illness or injury | 34.52 | 29.27 | 1.8769 | 0.1697 |
| Getting divorced or having a important relationship end | 8.16 | 4.51 | 3.2041 | 0.0744 |
| Death of a spouse | 9.36 | 4.00 | 5.5225 | 0.0204 |
| Child’s or other household member’s leaving home | 10.23 | 6.54 | 2.6244 | 0.1059 |
| Death of a loved one (other than a spouse) | 32.04 | 24.89 | 3.8025 | 0.0517 |
| Own/family member’s legal problem | 13.51 | 5.78 | 9.2416 | 0.0025 |
| Getting retired from work | 5.42 | 4.63 | 0.16 | 0.6859 |
| Being unemployed | 5.42 | 2.41 | 3.2761 | 0.0707 |
| Considerable improvement in own/family’s financial situation | 15.79 | 12.70 | 1.1449 | 0.2836 |
| Considerable deterioration of own/family’s financial situation | 39.33 | 21.97 | 21.3444 | <.0001 |
| Moving | 24.15 | 14.67 | 8.6436 | 0.0033 |
| Trouble affording the food needed | 45.82 | 27.56 | 20.9764 | <.0001 |
| Social functioning / Social support | ||||
| Duke Social Support Index (DSSI, 11–33, higher, more support) | 25.31 (4.24) Range 13–31 | 27.99 (2.97) Range 14–33 | 9.00 | <.0001 |
| Difficulty in dealing with strangers (1:none~5:extreme/cannot do) | 2.08 (1.40) Range 1–5 | 1.38 (0.98) Range 1–5 | 6.89 | <.0001 |
| Difficulty in maintaining a friendship (1: none; ~5: extreme/cannot do) | 1.56 (1.07) Range 1–5 | 1.11 (0.47) Range 1–5 | 6.65 | <.0001 |
| Interference with usual social activities because of physical health or emotional problems (0: not at all; ~4: extreme/cannot do)c |
2.43 (1.35) Range 0–4 | 1.31 (1.40) Range 0–4 | 10.08 | <.0001 |
| Eating alone most of the time | 69.10 | 58.67 | 7.0225 | 0.0080 |
a
The number of life-events perceived negatively by participants