[Empowerment and Stigma as Mediator Variables Between Illness Severity and Quality of Life of Patients with Affective Disorders].

OBJECTIVE: The investigation of mediating effects of empowerment and stigmatization on the association between depressive symptoms and subjective quality of life in patients with affective disorders.
METHOD: Depressive Symptoms (BDI-II), internalized and perceived stigmatization (ISMI; PDDQ), empowerment (EPAS) and subjective quality of life (WHOQOL-BREF) were assessed in 37 patients with affective disorders (F31 - F33; ICD-10), age 18+ in inpatient, day hospital or outpatient psychiatric treatment. Data analyses were conducted by means of path-analysis.
RESULTS: Empowerment and in low proportion internalized and perceived stigma turned out to be mediating variables between the severity of depression and subjective quality of life. 57 % of the variance of the subjective quality of life could be explained by the path model.
CONCLUSION: Empowerment has meaningful influence mediating between depression and subjective quality of life. In order to improve the quality of life of patients with an affective disorder, strategies for increasing empowerment are to be integrated into treatment. © Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.