INTERNATIONALLY SUPPORTED PROJECTS ON HUMAN ETHOLOGY AND EVOLUTIONARY PSYCHOLOGY IN NOVOSIBIRSK
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Liydmila Py'lkova
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    Liydmila Py'lkova

SOCIAL SUPPORT AND QUALITY OF LIFE IN WINTER DEPRESSION

Lyudmila V. Pylkova

Department of Psychology, Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk, Russia

Objectives. The evolutionary psychological explanations predict that psychosocial risk factors, especially those related to social support, play the critical role in manifestation of depression. In particular, findings on postpartum depression (Hagen, 1999) fit well in this prediction: this condition seems to be closely associated with poor social support. By contrast to evolutionary psychological explanations, Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) has been understood as condition that develops in response to periodical changes of physical environment, and, therefore, the influence of these periodicities on patients' biology has been considered to be the primary and most important cause of seasonality of mood. Following this paradigm, the researches have not focused their studies upon non-periodic psychosocial risk factors as possible causes of seasonal depression. We tested whether such factor as poor social support is implicated in SAD.
Methods. The subjects were 89 women. Forty three of them represent patients who, being diagnosed as SAD, took part in the investigational bright light trials in winters 1988-2002. The others were age-matched controls recruited from general population throughout the study. The results on two questionnaires are presented here: 1) the MOS SSS that examines 4 domains of social support and 2) the SF-36 that includes 8 scales for evaluation of quality of life.
Results. The levels of perceived psychosocial support assessed with MOS SSS were lower in the patients compared to the controls (see Figure in Appendix). The differences were significant for such domains as tangible support (p = 0.015), affectionate support (p = 0.003), and positive social interaction (p = 0.0006). According to SF-36, general health and somatic state were similar in patients and controls (see Figure in Appendix). The patients showed the impaired scores on 4 scales: mental health (p=0.028), vitality (p=0.002), emotional role (p=0.042) and social functioning (p=0.002).

Psychosocial support: MOSSS Patients,
N = 43
Controls,
N = 46
P, Students test p, M-W test
S1- emotional/ informational support 20,8 ± 8,2 22,8 ± 7,4 ,230461 ,247018
S2 - tangible support 11,6 ± 3,9 13,4 ± 2,9 ,015236 ,032131
S3 - affectionate support 7,9 ± 3,8 9,9 ±2,4 ,003855 ,005453
S4-positive social interaction support 7,2 ± 3,1 9,4 ±2,8 ,000685 ,001134
Quality of life: SF-36        
GH - general health 63.2 ± 2.8 57.8 ± 2.3 .14 .11
PF - physical functioning 83.6 ± 3.7 89.0 ± 1.6 .15 .69
RP - physical role, 54.6 ± 6.8 65.0 ± 5.7 .24 .26
RE - emotional role 46.5 ± 6.3 64.4 ± 5.8 .042 .038
SF - social functioning 57.6 ± 4.5 74.8 ± 3.1 .0018 .0019
BP - bodily pain 59.4 ± 4.2 68.6 ± 3.2 .08 .06
VT - vitality 48.0 ± 3.6 61.1 ± 2.4 .0024 .0068
MH - mental health 54.3 ± 3.5 63.4 ± 2.3 .028 .06

Conclusions. For biological theories of SAD, the association of psychosocial risk factors with seasonality is unpredicted finding. This finding, however, fits well in the evolutionary psychological explanation of depression that predicts the critical role of psychosocial factors in manifestation and treatment of any type of depression.

Appendix:

1 - emotional/ informational support, 2 - tangible support (p = 0.015), 3 - affectionate support (p = 0.003), 4 - positive social interaction support (p = 0.0006).
GH - general health, PF - physical functioning, RP - physical role, RE - emotional role(p=0.042),
SF - social functioning (p=0.002), BP - bodily pain, VT - vitality (p=0.002), MH - mental health (p=0.028).