Social support and coping with illness in 41 patients with depressive disorders

Considering the paradigm of solutogenesis social support and coping abilities ore supposed to have a potential health-promoting function. Their relevance is studied in 41 patients with depressive disorders and a control group of 41 orthopaedic patients. Also the interplay between perceived social support and coping behaviour is examined. Depressive patients report more social stress and less support than the orthopaedic controls, and they use ineffective coping strategies more often. Moreover, coping behaviour and experience of social support are strongly linked. Especially the positive correlations between supportive interactions which stabilize one's self-esteem and effective coping strategies underline the health-promoting character of the interaction of social and personal ressources in the process of adaptation to illness. Interpreting the results, however, potential confoundation effects between the studied variables must be taken into account.