Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is one of the most common inflammatory connective tissue diseases with only partially known etiology and progressive course. Despite discovering pathomechanisms of inflammatory phenomena and introducing more and more effective and at the same time safe methods of treatment, the disease still often leads to disability as well as to premature death as a result of damage to internal organs.

The consequences of various life restrictions, the severity of symptoms, and the awareness of the inevitable progression of the disease often imply the occurrence of depressive symptoms in patients.

This leads to research aimed at determining the relationship between the ability to cope with stress of a chronic disease (cognitive assessment of a stress situation related to health, coping strategies) and the occurrence of depressive symptoms in women and men diagnosed with RA.

The research sample consisted of two 142-patient groups treated for RA. The following tests were administered in the research: Stress Assessment Questionnaire KOS-A (Włodarczyk, Wrześniewski, 2010), the COPE Multidimensional Coping Inventory (Juczyński, Ogińska-Bulik, 2005) and Depression Inventory (Beck, 1961). Statistical calculations were performed using IBM SPSS 24 program with the AMOS extension and the analysis of multidimensional relations between variables was carried out using structural equations modelling (SEM).

The structural equation modeling shows that the perception of a stressful situation related to health as a challenge motivating to undertake the activity with the mediating role of active coping strategies, seeking emotional support and positive reassessment and growth is negatively linked to the severity of symptoms typical of depression. On the other hand, perceiving the aforementioned situation as a loss inhibiting activity with the mediating role of refraining from action coping strategies, denying and using substances was directly proportional to the severity of symptoms characteristic of affective disorders. It was also noted that gender moderated these relationships.

Keywords: rheumatoid arthritis, chronic disease, coping with stress, depression

Radzenie sobie ze stresem choroby przewlekłej a występowanie symptomów depresji u pacjentów z reumatoidalnym zapaleniem stawów Streszczenie

Reumatoidalne zapalenie stawów (RZS) należy do najczęstszych zapalnych chorób tkanki łącznej o częściowo tylko poznanej etiologii i postępującym przebiegu.