Perceived Stressful Life Events, Coping Style, Social Support and Depressive Symptoms of the Functional Dyspepsia Patients

Lee, Sang Yeol; Park, Min Cheol

Abstract

OBJECTIVES
To investigate various factors that can mediate stress and response, such as coping style, social support, level of perceived stress, and psychopathology(especially anxiety and depression) of the functional dyspepsia(FD).
METHODS
Thirty adults with functional dyspepsia were compared to thirty healthy adults who had visited the hepatobiliary clinic due to non-organic complaints(tiredness and fatigue) without FD, but the results of medical examination were normal. All subjects were evaluated for anxiety and depressive symptoms, perceived stress, coping style and social support. Symptom Checklist-90-Revision, Beck Depression Inventory, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, Ways of Coping Checklist, Interpersonal Support Evaluation List, and a self-reporting questionnaire were included to measure the quantity of perceived stressful life events.
RESULTS
The FD patients had significantly more symptoms of depression, more perceived stressful life events, demonstrated less problem-focused coping, and less social support than the control subjects. Depressive symptoms of the FD patients were negatively correlated with interpersonal support and were positively correlated with trait anxiety, whereas, problem-focused coping were positively correlated with interpersonal support. The two groups did not differ significantly in terms of anxiety and emotion-focused coping.
CONCLUSION
Our results suggest that FD patients need to be evaluated for psychiatric problems, and might benefit from psychiatric treatment with psychotherapeutic and psychopharmacological modalities.