Depressive Symptoms, Correlates, and the Marital Relationship in Women with Breast Cancer in Saudi Arabia

Authors

  • Faten Al-Zaben
  • Mohammad Gamal Sehlo
  • Basem Salama El-deek
  • Harold G. Koenig

Keywords:

Breast cancer; Depression; Correlates; Saudi Arabia; Marital quality; Spouse support

Abstract

The relationship between the quality of the marital relationship and depressive symptoms in married women with breast cancer in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was examined. A consecutive series of 50 women with breast cancer were interviewed using a close-ended questionnaire.
Over 20% of women had depressive symptoms indicating a probable depressive disorder using
the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Although a weak relationship in the expected direction was found, quality of the marital relationship was not significantly related to depressive
symptoms (B=-0.09, SE=0.06, t=-1.54, p=0.13). Depressive symptoms were primarily driven
by educational level, socioeconomic factors, age, and type of treatment.

Downloads

Published

2015-10-16

Issue

Volume 1 Issue 2 2015

Section

Articles