Social support and depression in men during alcoholism treatment

Psychiatric comorbidities have been shown to be important predictors of the outcome of alcoholism treatment. This study examines whether perceived lack of social support can be identified as an independent predictor of symptoms of depression experienced during alcoholism treatment over and above the effects of personality characteristics and the severity of alcohol and psychiatric history. We studied 189 alcoholic men in treatment at a rural midwestern Department of Veterans Affairs medical center. Multiple regression analyses found that reduced social support significantly predicted depression (measured by the Beck Depression Inventory) during treatment while controlling for personality characteristics and the alcoholism and psychiatric subscales of the Addiction Severity Index. Although self-esteem, neuroticism, and psychiatric severity also were significantly associated with depression in the hierarchical regression model, social support demonstrated the strongest unique contribution to depression of any of the predictors. These results suggest that social support has an independent association with depression and perhaps may play an important role in improving treatment compliance and the outcome of alcoholism treatment.