Are cancer patients with high depressive symptom levels able to manage these symptoms without professional care? The role of coping and social support.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

Around 25% of cancer patients experiences depressive symptoms. However, the majority does not receive formal psychological care because patients often prefer managing symptoms alone or with informal social support. Previous research has shown that adaptive coping and social support can indeed be effective in managing relatively mild depressive symptoms. However, higher depressive symptom levels rarely improve without psychological treatment. This longitudinal study examined how and to what extent coping and social support are related to reductions in depressive symptoms in cancer patients with moderate to severe depressive symptoms.

Methods

Respondents were diagnosed with cancer in the past five years, experienced high depressive symptom levels (PHQ-9 ≥ 10) and wer

SUBMITTER: Bickel EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9542510 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature