Perceived social support and depressive symptoms in Chinese patients with ovarian cancer and the mediating role of resilience

Abstract

BackgroundPatients with ovarian cancer (OC) often suffer from depressive symptoms, but there is little research on coping style such as perceived social support and resilience. The aim of the present study was to explore whether resilience plays a mediating role between perceived social support and depressive symptoms. MethodsA cross-sectional study was performed between August 2018 and March 2019. Perceived social support, resilience, and depressive symptoms were measured with the Multi‐dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS), the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale and the Connor‐Davidson Resilience Scale (CD‐RISC). Hierarchical linear regression analyses were used to assess the mediating role of resilience between these variables. ResultsOf 230 consecutive patients identified, a total of 217 completed questionnaires. After controlling for covariates, perceived social support was negatively correlated with depressive symptoms (β = -0.482, p < 0.01) and explained 22.8% of the variance. In addition, after controlling for covariates and perceived social support, resilience was also negatively associated with depressive symptoms (β = -0.492, p < 0.01) and explained 18.1% of the variance. Bootstrapping test confirmed that the BCa 95% CI for resilience excludes 0 in Table 4 (BCa95% CI: -0.342, -0.143), therefore resilience partially mediated the associations of perceived social support with depressive symptoms. ConclusionsResults revealed that resilience could mediate the association between social support and depressive symptoms, and concluded that it was critical to focus on social support as well as resilience in the management strategy of OC.