Optimism, pessimism, and depressive symptoms in spouses of lung cancer patients

Abstract

Although large numbers of caregivers of severely ill patients show elevated levels of depression, the considerable variability in caregivers’ reactions point to the influence of individual resources and vulnerabilities. The present study assessed how optimism and pessimism relate to depressive symptoms in 138 spouses of lung cancer patients. After statistical control for cancer stage and sociodemographic characteristics, pessimism was related to higher levels of depressive symptoms. No main effect of optimism on depressive symptoms was found. However, an interaction effect of optimism with cancer stage emerged, indicating a negative association between optimism and depressive symptoms in spouses of patients with regional and advanced cancer (stages III and IV). The cross-sectional results were replicated in longitudinal analysis with a subsample of 60 respondents who were still providing care after one year.

Keywords:

• Cancer
• caregivers
• depression
• psychological resources
• psycho-oncology

Acknowledgement

Data collection for this study was supported in part by grant K07-MH01135 from the National Institute of Mental Health. We appreciate the cooperation of the patients, nurses, and physicians at the University of Rochester Cancer Center. We are especially grateful to Drs. Richard Feins and David Johnstone, and would also like to acknowledge the assistance of Anthony Beckman and Nathan Franus.