Psychosocial recovery from a cardiac event: the influence of perceived control

To determine the relationship between patients' feelings of control at baseline and psychosocial recovery 6 months after their cardiac event.

One hundred seventy-six patients who had had myocardial infarction, had undergone coronary artery bypass or both.

In this longitudinal, comparative survey patients with high perceptions of control were compared with those with low perceptions of control at baseline to determine differences in psychosocial recovery 6 months later.

Psychosocial recovery was operationalized as anxiety, depression, and hostility (measured by Multiple Affect Adjective Checklist) and overall psychosocial adjustment to illness (measured by Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale).

Significant differences were seen in psychosocial recovery between patients with feelings of high control versus those with feelings of low control (p = 0.006). Patients with feelings of high control at baseline were less anxious (p = 0.002), less depressed (p = 0.001), less hostile (p = 0.02), and had better psychosocial adjustment (p = 0.009) at a 6-month follow-up than those with feelings of low control.

Feelings of perceived control are important for psychosocial recovery after a cardiac event.