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Depression in wives of alcoholics : the role of perceived social support from family and friends Wilks-Reynolds, Janet H.

Abstract

Perceived social support has been shown to moderate the incidence of depression in the face of adversity in a variety of populations, although this relationship has not been previously verified in a sample of wives of alcoholics. Theory in relation to social support and depression is explored. About twice as many women as men experience depression, and women are more often the providers than the recipients of social support, thus both social support and depression are gender-biased phenomena. The gendered aspects of these constructs are discussed and related to the experience of wives of alcoholics. Work, marriage, and friendships are explored as potential contexts of social support, and a history of professional treatment of wives of alcoholics is reviewed. Professional support has been lacking, and these women have been unjustly pathologized. In a sample of 116 wives of alcoholics, stepwise regression analyses were conducted for two measures of depression as the dependent variables, with perceived social support from family, perceived social support from friends, and various demographic variables as the independent variables. Perceived social support from family was found to explain the majority of the variance for both measures of depression. Perceived social support from friends and unemployment explained additional variance only for the BDI. Number residing in the house explained additional variance only for the SCL-90-R depression subscale. Family income explained additional variance for both measures.

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