Association between social support and quality of life in patients with affective disorders

Background and objectives Despite seemingly simple relationships between the quality of life and depression, the relevant issues are still not fully understood. The aim was to study the role of social support in the quality of life. Methods The study included 104 patients with unipolar or bipolar affective disorder. Beck Depression Inventory and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale were used to determine the level of intensity of depressive symptoms. Quality of life (Quality of Life in Depression Scale) and levels of social support (parts of Berlin Social Support Scales, Social Support Scale) were measured on admission, at discharge from the hospital, and 3 months after discharge. Results Results showed an increase in quality of life during hospitalization. The amount of social support remained constant between three measurements and positively correlated with quality of life. The strongest associations (controlled by depression severity) were found for perceived support at discharge (controlling HRS Rho = −0.44; p Conclusions During hospitalization, the quality of patient's life significantly improves with time. Social support is a significant correlate of quality of life in affective disorders.