Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2016 Mar 15:193:130-6.
doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.079. Epub 2016 Jan 6.

The association of an inability to form and maintain close relationships due to a medical condition with anxiety and depressive disorders

Adam Simning  1 , Christopher L Seplaki  2 , Yeates Conwell  3
Affiliations

The association of an inability to form and maintain close relationships due to a medical condition with anxiety and depressive disorders

Adam Simning et al. J Affect Disord. .

Abstract

Background: While low social support is a risk factor for mental illness, anxiety and depression's relationship with social impairment specifically resulting from a medical condition is poorly understood. We hypothesize that when a medical illness makes it difficult for people to form and maintain close relationships with others, they will be at increased risk for anxiety and depression.

Methods: Two nationally representative surveys, the National Comorbidity Survey-Replication and National Latino and Asian American Study, included 6805 adults with at least one medical illness and information on social impairment attributed to a medical condition. The Composite International Diagnostic Interview evaluated a 12-month history of anxiety and depressive disorders.

Results: 8.2% of our sample had at least moderate difficulty in forming and maintaining close relationships due to a medical condition. In bivariate analyses, younger age, Latino ethnicity, less education, worse financial status, more chronic illnesses, physical health and discomfort, and problems with mobility, home management, and self-care were associated with this social impairment. In multivariable analyses accounting for possible confounders, there was a dose-dependent relationship between social impairment and the prevalence of anxiety and depression.

Limitations: Data are cross-sectional and our analyses are therefore unable to determine cause-and-effect relationships.

Conclusions: Among adults with one or more medical conditions, social impairment attributed to medical illness was associated with a significantly greater odds of anxiety and depression. Further clarification of this relationship could inform more targeted, personalized interventions to prevent and/or alleviate mental illness in those with chronic medical conditions.

Keywords: Community surveys; Comorbidity; Epidemiology; Social psychiatry; Social support.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alegria M, Jackson JS, Kessler RC, Takeuchi D. Collaborative Psychiatric Epidemiology Surveys (CPES), 2001–2003 [United States] ICPSR20240-v6. Ann Arbor, MI: Interuniversity Consortium for Political and Social Research; 2015.
    1. Alegria M, Takeuchi D, Canino G, Duan N, Shrout P, Meng XL, Vega W, Zane N, Vila D, Woo M, Vera M, Guarnaccia P, Aguilar-Gaxiola S, Sue S, Escobar J, Lin KM, Gong F. Considering context, place and culture: the National Latino and Asian American Study. Int. J. Methods Psychiatr. Res. 2004;13:208–220. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Alexopoulos GS. Depression in the elderly. Lancet. 2005;365:1961–1970. - PubMed
    1. Celano CM, Freudenreich O, Fernandez-Robles C, Stern TA, Caro MA, Huffman JC. Depressogenic effects of medications: a review. Dialogues Clin. Neurosci. 2011;13:109– 125. - PMC - PubMed
    1. de Beurs E, Beekman AT, van Balkom AJ, Deeg DJ, van Dyck R, van Tilburg W. Consequences of anxiety in older persons: its effect on disability, well-being and use of health services. Psychol. Med. 1999;29:583–593. - PubMed

Publication types