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Levels of Depressive Symptoms in Spouses of People With Lung Cancer: Effects of Personality, Social Support, and Caregiving Burden

Received Oct. 15, 2003; revision received April 12, 2004; accepted May 26, 2004. From the Behavioral Research Center, American Cancer Society; and the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, N.Y. Address correspondence and reprint requests to Dr. Kim, Behavioral Research Center, American Cancer Society, 1599 Clifton Rd., N.E., Atlanta, GA 30329-4251; youngmee.kim{at}cancer.org (e-mail).

The authors sought to identify the personality correlates of depressive symptoms in 120 spouses of people with lung cancer. Spouses completed questionnaires, including measures of personality (neuroticism, extraversion, and interpersonal self-efficacy), social support, and caregiving burden. Their level of depressive symptoms was measured with self-report (Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale) and interviewer (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale) ratings. Structural equation modeling showed that neuroticism was directly associated with greater depressive symptoms and indirectly associated with less social support and greater caregiving burden. Interpersonal self-efficacy was indirectly associated with the severity of depressive symptoms through both social support and caregiving burden. These findings have implications for identifying spouses of individuals with lung cancer who are vulnerable to depression and could inform the design of programs to reduce depressive symptoms in the context of cancer caregiving.

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