AB STRACT:The pur pose of this study was to test the rela tion ships between per ceived self-efficacy, func t ional sta tus and depres sion in a group of chronic heart fail ure patients. The con cep tual model for this study was pri mar ily derived from Bandura's social learn ing the ory. The study is based on an explor at ory, correlational design. A sam ple of 100 chronic heart fail ure patients who met the inclu sion cri t e ria were recruited from four car dio vas cu lar clin ics of major hos pi tals in north ern Tai wan. The instru ments used in this study included Jenkins' Self-Efficacy Expec ta tion Scales, Seat tle Angina Inven tory, and Geri at ric Depres sion Scale. Results dem on strate a sig nif i cant inverse rela tion ship between per ceived self-efficacy and depres sive symp toms ( r = -. 61, p < .001), a sig nif i cant pos i tive rela tion ship between per ceived self-efficacy and func tional sta tus ( r = .55, p < .001), and a sig nif i cant neg a tive rela tion ship between func tional sta tus and depres sive symp toms (r = -. 33, p < .001). The find ings of the path anal y sis sup port the hypoth e sis that after con trol ling for dis ease sever ity, per ceived self-efficacy has a direct and neg a tive effect on depres sive symp toms. An indi rect effect of per ceived self-efficacy on depres sion through func tional sta tus in heart fail ure patients was also revealed in the find ing. All paths in the model were sig nif i cant (p < .05). Results of the study can help to iden tify heart fail ure patients who are at risk for low per ceived self-efficacy, low func tional sta tus, and a depressed mood. Nursing inter ven tion to address these fac tors can then be devel oped and tested.