The association between social support and course of depression: is it confounded with personality?

A number of studies have indicated that social support is associated with the course of depression. However, none of these studies have ruled out the potentially confounding effects of personality factors, such as neuroticism. The authors examined whether social support was related to the course of depression after controlling for neuroticism and several possible confounding clinical variables. Participants were 59 patients meeting Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 1987) criteria for major depression. All participants received structured diagnostic interviews and completed self-report measures of social support and neuroticism. Follow-up assessments at 6 months included the Longitudinal Interval Follow-Up Evaluation (M. B. Keller et al., 1987) and the Beck Depression Inventory (A. T. Beck, A. J. Rush, B. F. Shaw, & G. Emery, 1979). Results indicated that social support significantly predicted both severity of depression and recovery from depression at follow-up over and above the effects of initial depression severity, dysthymia, and neuroticism.