Wie Paarbeziehungen den Krankheitsverlauf depressiver Patienten beeinflussen können

Abstract

The quality of the relationship between spouses is regarded as an important factor for the development and course of depression. Although a number of cross-sectional studies could identify specific interaction patterns of couples in which one of the spouses was depressed, it is not yet clear whether these patterns are significant for the course of major depressive disorder. Therefore, an own study is described, in which the relevance of marital quality and interactional behaviour regarding the course of the disorder was investigated. Depressive patients and their spouses were examined at discharge from hospital and repeatedly during a two-year follow-up. Results show that a discrepant evaluation of marital quality between patients and spouses increases the risk of relapse. Additionally, conflict avoiding behaviour and ambiguous interaction seem to be unfavourable for the course of major depression. Implications for clinical practice are discussed.

Keywords:

Depression, marital interaction, marital quality, course of major depressive disorder