유승현1, 권혁주1, 김선희1, 이정아1, 선우성1, 김영식1, 김병수2, 오한진3, 김철민4, 최희정5, 황희진6, 옥선화7

1울산대학교 의과대학 서울아산병원 가정의학과, 2울산대학교 의과대학 서울아산병원 정신과, 3비에비스 나무병원, 4가톨릭대학교 의과대학 서울성모병원 가정의학과, 5을지대학교 의과대학 가정의학교실, 6가톨릭관동대학교 의과대학 가톨릭관동대학교 국제성모병원 가정의학과, 7서울대학교 아동가족학과, 생활과학연구소

Background: Depression is known to affect family function and communication. However, the distress experienced
by those who have spouse with depression has not been properly assessed to date. This study attempted
to examine the effect of depression on family function and communication as reported by the spouses
of the depressed patients.
Methods: The participants of this study were 445 couples who visited 28 family doctors from April 2009 to June
2011. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scale III (FACES-III) was used to evaluate the family
function, and the family communication scale in FACES-IV was used to evaluate communication among family
members. A score of more than 21 points on the CES-D scale was used to indicate depression. The relationships
between family type, family communication, and the depression of one’s spouse were analyzed using the
chi-square test and logistic regression.
Results: The odds ratios, indicating how the family is heading towards an extreme level, were statistically significant
in all male and female respondents (male: odds ratio [OR] 3.08, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.73-5.48; female:
OR 2.09, 95% CI 1.02-4.27). On the other hand, only female respondents with depressed spouses reported
their family communication not to be good (male: OR 1.65, 95% CI 0.88-3.07; female: OR 2.48, 95% CI,
1.25-4.93).
Conclusions: This study revealed people perceive their family function and communication not good when they
have spouses with depression. There was no gender difference in the evaluation of their family function, but the
perception on their family communication were different by gender.
Korean J Health Promot 2016;16(1):11-19
Keywords: Depression, Spouses, Family functioning, Commuincation