Actor-partner interdependence analysis in depressed patient-caregiver dyads: Influence of emotional intelligence and coping strategies on anxiety and depression

Objective: Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a leading cause of suffering for both patients and their natural caregivers. A preliminary study highlights the association of emotional intelligence (EI) and coping strategies with quality of life. However, there is a lack of studies concerning dyadic (i.e., patient and natural caregiver) characteristics' impact on anxious and depressive symptoms. In a sample of MDD patients-caregivers dyads, we explored the influence of EI and coping strategies on anxious and depressive symptoms using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM).

Methods: The cross-sectional study included 79 MDD patient-caregiver dyads. Self-reported data, completed by patients and their primary caregivers, were collected including socio-demographic, EI using TEIQue-SF, coping strategies using BriefCope, depressive symptoms using Beck Depression Inventory, anxious symptoms using STAI. The APIM was used to test the dyadic effects of EI and coping strategies on anxious and depressive symptoms, using structural equation modelling.

Results: Patients and caregivers reported both anxious and depressive symptoms. Coping strategies, such as problem solving, positive thinking and avoidance, exhibited evidence of actor (degree to which the individual's coping strategies are associated with their own anxiety or depression level) and partner effect (degree to which the individual's coping strategies are associated with the anxiety or depression level of the other member of the dyad). The caregivers' EI was associated with a decrease of their own depression level contrary to patients for which the results were not significant. The patients' and caregivers' EI was associated with a decrease of their own level of anxiety.

Conclusion: EI and coping strategies were moderately associated with anxious and depressive symptomatology among MDD patient-caregiver dyads. These results suggest that targeted interventions could be proposed to both patients and caregivers.