Is social support pre‐treatment associated with prognosis for adults with depression in primary care?

Abstract

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Life events and treatment prognosis for depression: A systematic review and individual patient data meta-analysis

“…Markers of severity of depression previously found to be associated with prognosis independent of treatment ( Buckman et al., 2021a ) (depressive symptom severity, durations of depression and anxiety, history of antidepressant treatment, and comorbid panic disorder), were adjusted for in separate models. Social support, ethnicity, marital status, employment status and financial strain were additionally adjusted for as potential confounders in subsequent models ( Buckman et al., 2021 , 2021b , 2021a ). Finally, only confounders that can be reasonably assumed to have been present prior to the life event (occurring up to six months pre-baseline) were adjusted for (this excludes clinical and demographic variables that are changeable through time and might have been affected by the life event; i.e.…”

The contribution of depressive ‘disorder characteristics’ to determinations of prognosis for adults with depression: an individual patient data meta-analysis

“…The meta-review identified a number of other potential prognostic factors, including life events, social support and socio-demographics which are beyond the scope of the current study (Buckman et al, 2021 ), and several others which are related to the severity of the mental health problem a patient with depression might present with in a clinic. These severity-related factors can be referred to as depressive ‘disorder characteristics’, in contrast to depressive ‘symptom severity’.…”

Socioeconomic Indicators of Treatment Prognosis for Adults With Depression

“…4 These include the severity of depressive symptoms; the duration of depression, comorbid anxiety, and comorbid panic disorder; a history of antidepressant treatment 4,5 ; marital status 6 ; and social support. 7 Despite such knowledge, most of the variance in prognosis for patients with depression remains unexplained, reflecting the field's limited knowledge of how patients respond to treatment. 5 Socioeconomic factors have been associated with increased prevalence of depression 8,9 ; however, associations with prognosis have rarely been investigated.…”